The wars of the future, we are constantly warned, would be fought over water. Being an agricultural country, Pakistan in particular cannot afford to be anything but careful in using this precious resource, which by an unlucky stroke of chance, runs through a country much larger than it – India. Whereas India has the right to use the waters as prescribed in the Indus Water Treaty, tensions do rise when either of the party tries to hoodwink the other through one contraption or the other.
Rhetoric aside, a practical framework has been laid down in the IWT to settle any dispute arising out of the misuse of water from any of the three Western rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. After finding out some irregularities in the design of Kishanganga Dam on the river Jhelum, Pakistan has sought a legal and mutually agreed upon recourse of arbitration. Such travesties have already been observed, as in the case of Wullar Barrage. However, what is markedly missing from the scene is a proactive approach from Islamabad that would prevent such happenings well before time. India’s water and electricity needs are growing at a scale that can be termed gigantic. For them, it would only make sense to manage even the last drop of water that they can lay their hands on. However, encroaching upon Pakistan’s due share of river water would only escalate tension in a region already marred by terrorism, regional insecurity, and poverty.
Considering the fact that Pakistan’s projected population would double by 2050, food security should be a permanent feature of its strategic plans. We are already dumping more than 60 percent of our river water totally unused into the Arabian Sea. Disastrous consequences are sure to follow if we allow our Eastern neighbour run amok with our waters. While the arbitration council is a good idea, both countries are better off if they don’t let the situation spiral out of hand. It is high time for Pakistan to assert its rights.
