"Unfair" Treaty

As Delhi scraps the 1960 pact with Pakistan, Kashmiris are once again left asking: when will anyone hear their grievance?

- Mumtaz Khan

It took a horrific tragedy — the attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people — for Delhi to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, one of the world’s most celebrated but deeply unequal water-sharing agreements. In the rush of diplomatic expulsions and border shutdowns, one voice stood out.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, speaking bluntly, said, “Let’s be honest, we have never been in favour of the Indus Water Treaty. It has been the most unfair document to our people.”

The treaty, signed in 1960 between Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan’s Ayub Khan, with the World Bank as broker, divided rivers like lines on a map. Kashmir wasn’t even consulted.

The Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab—rivers that nourish Kashmir’s valleys and mountains — were assigned largely to Pakistan. India got the three eastern rivers — Beas, Ravi, Sutlej — and a limited right to use the western ones for "non-consumptive” purposes like small hydropower and navigation.

In effect, Kashmiris watched as their rivers were turned into bargaining chips in a deal between two distant capitals. India could not build large dams. Storage was severely restricted. Every project faced endless scrutiny, often from international bodies.