A treaty in troubled waters

India has decided that blood and water will not flow together," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address at Delhi's Red Fort three weeks ago.

- CHINTAN GIRISH MODI

He was defending India's decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty, signed with Pakistan in 1960, in abeyance following the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April that led to the killing of 26 civilians.

That water diplomacy cannot coexist with cross-border terrorism seems like a no-brainer but, unsurprisingly, it has met with staunch opposition from Pakistan. Most recently at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged member countries to follow bilateral treaties, and ensure "uninterrupted access to due share of water".

Uttam Kumar Sinha's book Trial by Water: Indus Basin and India-Pakistan Relations would be useful to anyone who is keen to understand India's official stance through a historical framework and the lens of national security. The author, a senior fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, is an authoritative voice on transboundary water governance.