The Indus Waters Treaty: Need to adapt, or perish

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) chief minister Omar Abdullah recently voiced concerns about the impact of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) on the Union territory's power generation crisis and sought compensation from the Union government for the restrictions encoded in the treaty.

- Shravan Yammanur

While India grapples with the internal demands arising out of some of the antiquated terms of the IWT, Pakistan continues to ignore the legitimate attempts by India to initiate discussions to modify the IWT, provided for under Article XII (3) of the treaty.

In August, India issued its fourth notice to Pakistan under Article XII (3), seeking government-to-government discussions. These notices seem to have been triggered by the World Bank's dubious decision in October 2022 to allow parallel proceedings before the Neutral Expert and the Court of Arbitration; the climate crisis' impact on the Indus river basin also has a role to play.

India's notices came after years of frustration over Pakistan's refusal to engage constructively in the implementation of the IWT. Pakistan, of course, has repeatedly chosen to ignore government-to-government negotiations. Its government and experts appear to believe that Pakistan should not engage with India in these discussions because India cannot unilaterally terminate the IWT.

This perception may be unfounded, as India would be within its rights to move this way given Pakistan's disregard for its treaty obligations under Article XII and continued abuse of the dispute resolution mechanism under the IWT to stall crucial hydroelectric projects in J&K, all of which amounts to bad faith conduct under international law.