All About the Indus Waters Treaty Explained.

Indus water treaty was signed by Late Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan’s president  Ayub Khan. It was signed on  September 19, 1960 in Karachi. Which was  mediated by “The World Bank”.

WHY WAS IT NEEDED!?

After the partition of India in 1947. The indus water system which flows through both India and Pakistan, became a sourse of conflict. Pak being downstream was feared that India being Upstream could block it’s water supply. To avoid this conflictlike wars and fair sharing, both nation agreed to sign the treaty.

INDUS WATER SYSTEM CONSIST:

The Indus system includes six rivers. Those are divided into two parts which are “Eastern Rivers” and “Western Rivers”.

Eastern Rivers: Ravi, Beas, Sutlej.

Western Rivers: Indus, Jhelum, Chenab.

HOW WAS THE WATER DIVIDED?

Pakistan got the western rivers(indus, jhelum, chenab). India can use them for limited purpose like irrigation, storage and power plants. But can’t divert the flow of water and obstruct it.

India got the eastern rivers(ravi, sutlej, beas). On which India has full control and can use it for any purpose they want.

AS NOW WE HAVE UNDERSTAND THE TREATY LETS GET TO KNOW HOW SUSPENDING THE TREATY WILL AFFECT PAKISTAN AND WHY WAS THE TREATY SUSPENDED BY INDIA.

On April 22, 2025 following the deadly terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgham. Which caused death of 26 civillians specifically “HINDUS”. Due to this terror infra of Pak. India decided to suspend the INDUS WATER TREATY.

This is a big step by modi government because if the treaty stays suspended it could affect pak at a huge level. HOW ??

About 80% of Pakistan’s irrigated land depends on the Indus River system, especially the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab).

Which will affect the economy so bad which can lead to people dying without food and water because most of the agriculture of pakistan was dependent on the Indus water system.

Urban areas like Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi rely on river-fed water systems.

Less water means provinces like Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan may start blaming each other.

This can lead to civil protest, political instability, pressure on the central government.