{"id":20009182,"date":"2014-10-03T10:14:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-03T10:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=9182"},"modified":"2020-10-01T20:43:56","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T15:13:56","slug":"indus-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"“Scrapping water treaty is no solution”, says Pakistan’s Indus waters commissioner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite wars and decades of general hostility, the Indus Waters Treaty between Pakistan and India has held for 54 years. The treaty has also survived allegations that India is \u2018stealing\u2019 Pakistan\u2019s water, and that India was behind the recent destructive flooding in the Chenab. On his return from India last week, Pakistan\u2019s Commissioner for Indus Waters, Mirza Asif Baig, spoke to Dawn<\/em>. The following are his views:<\/p>\n

Q. What was the purpose of your recent India visit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. We\u2019re discussing five run-of-the-river hydropower projects that India plans to build, or is already constructing, on the western [or Pakistani] rivers. Four of those projects \u2014 Ratle, Pakal Dul, Lower Kalnai and Miyar \u2014 are on the Chenab and one \u2014 Kishanganga <\/a>\u2014 on the Neelum [a Jhelum tributary]. We\u2019ve some objections to the project designs and features and they have given us their justifications. These visits are important because they provide us exact information on the status of project construction, design features and site conditions.<\/p>\n

Q. What are Pakistan\u2019s objections to these projects?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. They mostly pertain to violations of the design criteria spelled out in the treaty and the storage projects the Indians are building on the western rivers. So far, India has started construction work only on the Ratle hydropower project. The work on the remaining three projects on the Chenab is yet to begin. The treaty allows India to create storage of 2.85MAF [million acre feet] during normal river flows and increase it up to 3.7MAF to store floodwaters. The first such capacity of 0.09MAF is now being built at Pakal Dul.<\/p>\n

Q. How valid are our objections?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. Let me clarify that we aren\u2019t objecting to India\u2019s right under the treaty to construct run-of-the-river hydropower capacity; our concerns pertain to project designs. And in our view the designs violate the treaty\u2019s design criteria \u2014 some very grossly and others significantly. We won\u2019t reject reasonable justifications but we will also not forego the rights the waters treaty gives us.<\/p>\n

Q. In the past Pakistan has twice gone for international arbitration on the Kishanganga and Baghlihar projects. In both cases, the neutral expert rejected our stand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. That perception isn\u2019t totally correct. In the case of Kishanganga<\/a> we wanted the neutral expert to determine if India was permitted to build the dam at all. We believed that its construction would adversely impact our downstream hydroelectric use, as well as cause serious damage to our agriculture, which would violate the treaty. The expert allowed India to go ahead with the project. But it also provided Pakistan some relief by binding Indians to release 9 cumics [1cumic is equal to 35.314cusec] of water from the dam during low-flow season. Our case would\u2019ve been much stronger if we had completed the Neelum-Jhelum project before India launched that project. But we had financing problems.<\/p>\n

On Baghlihar, we went to the international court for a decision on whether India was allowed under the treaty to lower the water level in reservoirs of run-of-the-river hydropower projects on the western rivers for drawdown flushing. Our stand was that such a right could damage our hydropower turbines downstream and, thus, was a violation of the treaty. Our point of view was declared valid; it was a major win for us.<\/p>\n

Q. There are many, especially some religious and farmer groups, who believe India is stealing our share of water. How valid are these accusations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. Some pseudo-water experts are spreading this notion<\/a>. India will never do so because it would lose face globally. Our own response will not be subdued if it happens. Having said that, India has developed 110,000 acres of agricultural land along its side of the Jhelum [Kishanganga] river. This is within the parameters of the treaty. The Jhelum is the only [Pakistani] river where we face inflow reduction of 1MAF at Mangla. But this reduction has resulted not because of development of agricultural land on the Indian side alone. We have also developed some land for agriculture.<\/p>\n

Q. Do you think India is responsible for the recent devastating flooding in the Chenab?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. No. India doesn\u2019t have significant water storage capacity on the Chenab. There has also been massive damage owing to flooding on the Indian side. Such manipulation would put their [irrigation and flood control] structures in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

Q. Do you agree with those who say Indians are reluctant to share their water outflow data with us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. We think that the data transmission mechanism between India and Pakistan has improved over the years. Though India isn\u2019t interested in the installation of the telemetry system, the two countries are discussing this issue. As far as the transmission of flood information is concerned, they have very responsibly been transmitting it to us.<\/p>\n

Q. Lately there have been calls for scrapping the existing water-sharing agreement with India and negotiating a more effective one to protect Pakistan\u2019s interests. What do you think?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. I guess the demand is being made in the context of climate change. It\u2019s a timely demand. But I wouldn\u2019t go as far as scrapping the present agreement. Such a radical step will create an uncertain environment regarding the sharing of waters between Pakistan and India. Both will always continue to need a mechanism to share the waters. Scrapping the treaty is no solution; introducing modifications in it is.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published in Dawn<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Data sharing between India and Pakistan has improved in recent years, says Pakistan’s Indus waters commissioner after a recent trip to India<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20000172,"featured_media":20014411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50039903],"tags":[17827,554,20000054,569,50040707],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000111,20000112],"class_list":["post-20009182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water","tag-climate-adaptation","tag-hydropower","tag-indus","tag-negotiations","tag-the-third-pole","country-india","country-pakistan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Scrapping water treaty is no solution", says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Data sharing between India and Pakistan has improved in recent years, says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner after a recent trip to India\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Scrapping water treaty is no solution", says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Data sharing between India and Pakistan has improved in recent years, says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner after a recent trip to India\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-03T10:14:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-01T15:13:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nasir Jamal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nasir Jamal\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5573473cdb8550610ededf8efe455336\"},\"headline\":\"“Scrapping water treaty is no solution”, says Pakistan’s Indus waters commissioner\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-03T10:14:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T15:13:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/\"},\"wordCount\":914,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Climate adaptation\",\"Hydropower\",\"Indus\",\"Negotiations\",\"The Third Pole\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Water\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Scrapping water treaty is no solution\\\", says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-03T10:14:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T15:13:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Data sharing between India and Pakistan has improved in recent years, says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner after a recent trip to India\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Indus D(Photo of Indus Delta from\u00a0NASA)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Scrapping water treaty is no solution”, says Pakistan’s Indus waters commissioner\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5573473cdb8550610ededf8efe455336\",\"name\":\"Nasir Jamal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/nasir-jamal\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/nasir-jamal\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Scrapping water treaty is no solution\", says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner | Dialogue Earth","description":"Data sharing between India and Pakistan has improved in recent years, says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner after a recent trip to India","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Scrapping water treaty is no solution\", says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner","og_description":"Data sharing between India and Pakistan has improved in recent years, says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner after a recent trip to India","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2014-10-03T10:14:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-01T15:13:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nasir Jamal","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/"},"author":{"name":"Nasir Jamal","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5573473cdb8550610ededf8efe455336"},"headline":"“Scrapping water treaty is no solution”, says Pakistan’s Indus waters commissioner","datePublished":"2014-10-03T10:14:03+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-01T15:13:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/"},"wordCount":914,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg","keywords":["Climate adaptation","Hydropower","Indus","Negotiations","The Third Pole"],"articleSection":["Water"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/","name":"\"Scrapping water treaty is no solution\", says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-03T10:14:03+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-01T15:13:56+00:00","description":"Data sharing between India and Pakistan has improved in recent years, says Pakistan's Indus waters commissioner after a recent trip to India","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Indus-Nasa.jpg","width":600,"height":600,"caption":"Indus D(Photo of Indus Delta from\u00a0NASA)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/indus-waters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Scrapping water treaty is no solution”, says Pakistan’s Indus waters commissioner"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5573473cdb8550610ededf8efe455336","name":"Nasir Jamal","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/nasir-jamal\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/nasir-jamal\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20009182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20000172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20009182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20009182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20014411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20009182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20009182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20009182"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=20009182"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=20009182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}