Water wars. Revisiting the Indus Water treaty
I first covered the IWT as part of my paper on Pakistan, summary in Swarajya in 2016 Pakistan will soon be one of the most water stressed nations in the world - due to high population growth and inadequate water management. Current per capita availability at 1000 Cu meters, makes Pakistan highly water stressed and at the same level as Ethiopia. Even the rumour that India might review the Indus water treaty, or the incorrect and misguided view that India is `stealing Pakistan’s water’, causes anxiety among all sections of Pakistani society. Pakistan’s water vulnerability is not being exploited by India. It does not require India to abrogate the Indus Water treaty (IWT), but needs to mostly do what is allowed under the IWT and in our national interest. What is also overlooked is exploitation of Afghan river water by Pakistan. The following steps by India can greatly exacerbate Pakistan’s water crisis and we believe that long before they do, India can use the resulting anxiety ...