Sharing of Indus water between India and Pakistan had always been a contentious issue with both claiming to be the beneficiaries. Under the Indus-Water Treaty, India and Pakistan share the waters – Pakistan uses almost 80 per cent of the water from the basin – of six rivers that flow through India towards Pakistan. Of these, India has complete rights over Sutlej, Beas and Ravi, while Pakistan uses Chenab, Jhelum and Indus. On the Indian side the worst affected state is Jammu and Kashmir which in the absence of a clear-cut policy has not been able to tap the potential to the maximum for legitimate water requirements for hydel power generation, deepening of rivers for navigation purposes, erecting protective bunds for floods and building adequate water reserves for irrigation. The treaty which has been in force for more than 45 years, has added to the economic woes of the people of upstream Jammu and Kashmir by depriving them of the legitimate right to full usage of Jhelum, Chenab and Indus waters. Indeed, India can hypothetically terminate the Indus Waters Treaty and restrict even the rivers flowing into Pakistan through the diversion of Indus river waters. But when it comes to practice, this position remains untenable. As such there is sufficient ground for reviewing the Indus Water Treaty, so that it is turned into a resilient one after making necessary modifications and adjustments, which can take care of the substantial changes. Because of the topsy-turvy treaty J and K in the shape of financial and technical help must get assistance from the Centre so that estimated potential of around 20,000 mega watts of energy can be utilised. The dams on the Indus River have been conspicuous source of conflict amongst the states in mainland Pakistan and a source of discontent amongst the people of PoK. In addition, terrorist organisations like the Lashkar-e-Taiba have also found a scapegoat in India for the growing water scarcity in Pakistan. Hafiz Saeed of the Lashkar-e-Taiba has warned that “Muslims dying of thirst would drink the blood of India.”
