SOURCE: REUTERS
India will never restore the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Islamabad, and the water flowing to Pakistan will be diverted for internal use, Home Minister Amit Shah said in an interview with Times of India on Saturday.
Delhi unilaterally suspended its participation in the 1960 IWT, which governs the usage of the Indus river system, on April 23, shortly after 26 civilians were killed in India-held Kashmir. Delhi, without evidence, blamed Islamabad for the attack. The latter has denied the allegations and called for a neutral probe.
The accord remains dormant despite a ceasefire agreed upon by the two nuclear-armed neighbours last month following their worst fighting in decades.
Earlier in the month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned India’s unilateral suspension of the IWT, describing it as a “blatant violation and act of water aggression”, and warned that Pakistan would give a befitting response in line with decisions made at the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting held on April 24.
“No, it will never be restored,” Shah told the daily.
“We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably,” Shah said, referring to the northwestern Indian state.
The latest comments from Shah, the most powerful cabinet minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, reveal Delhi’s intentions as Islamabad’s hopes for negotiations on the treaty in the near term.Last month, Reuters reported that India plans to dramatically increase the water it draws from a major river that feeds Pakistani farms downstream, as part of retaliatory action.