Indus water treaty: India needs to take a very tough stand, says A.B. Pandya

A.B. Pandya, a former chairman of the Central Water Commission, on Monday said that India needs to take a very tough stand with regard to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960, between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Pandya said, "We need to take a very tough stand in this regard; that we will not allow or execute the uneconomical designs that they are trying to force on us."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier today chaired a meeting to review the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Nripendra Misra, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar also attended the meeting at the official residence of the Prime Minister.

The treaty signed in 1960 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Pakistan President Ayub Khan allocates 80 per cent of water from the six-river Indus water system to Pakistan. Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum form the Indus water system that flows from India to Pakistan.

The treaty, brokered by the World Bank, is often considered to be too one-sided and there has been growing clamour to relook at it. The pact has survived wars and phases of frosty ties between India and Pakistan.