Tag: Indus Water Treaty

‘If You Can’t Share Water or Airspace With Pakistan, Why Share A Cricket Field?’

By Lokmarg

Ashish Kumar Shukla, a district-level cricketer and an Army aspirant from Balia in UP, says stopping water to Pakistan but playing cricket with them show double standards. His views:

After the killing of innocent tourists at Pahalgam by Pakistan-based terrorists, Indian political leadership took a bold step to place the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance. In effect, it meant that India will no longer release Indus water or share related data with Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it then, and repeated it in his Independence Day speech, that blood and water cannot flow together. India has also stopped all trade with Pakistan and the two countries have also closed air space for each other’s aircraft.

What baffles me, however, is that amid such rhetoric, how India will play a cricket match with Pakistan in Dubai for the Asia Cup! If water, a basic humanitarian resource, can be restricted on strategic grounds, then allowing a high-stakes cricket match—driven by corporate profits, TV ratings, and public spectacle—appears contradictory. India-Pakistan cricket match is more than just a sports event. It carries diplomatic, emotional and financial significance.

This clearly exposes our double standards in our response to terrorism and diplomacy. When bilateral cricket ties were suspended years ago citing national sentiment and cross-border terrorism, it was on the moral premise that there can be no cricket with blood-stained hands. That sentiment appears to have been overlooked for the lure of money and eyeballs.

Incidentally, our senior players refused to play with their Pakistan counterparts in the Champions League citing nationalistic reasons in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. This sent a strong message to the sporting community that national security and blood of our citizens override any sporting ties or trophy.

The BCCI is willing to turn that principle on its head and has agreed to play with Pakistan at a neutral venue. If this is not hypocrisy, pray what is?

ALSO READ: ‘Blood And Water Can’t Flow Together, But Cricket-Dollars Can’

India must remain consistent to its words when it comes to formal or sports diplomacy. If we’re serious about isolating Pakistan diplomatically, then cricket, the most visible and emotional link between the two countries, should not be exempt from this strategy. When our leadership has declared that India will not share water and airspace with a hostile neighbour, how could our Men in Blue share a cricket field with their ODI team? Either you impose the principle of disengaging with all forms of exchanges or engage with Pakistan on all fronts.

Operation Sindoor was named thus because India wanted to send a message to its own citizens that the sacred marital symbol will be honoured at all cost. Our armed forces lived up to this commitment and gave an unprecedented bloody nose to the terror network on Pakistan soil.

However, our cricket control board is now digressing from the dotted line. If our national policy has declared that blood and water cannot flow together, every Indian entity must ensure that blood and cricket-money shouldn’t either.

As Asaduddin Owaisi said on the floor of Parliament in the current Monsoon Session that his conscience will not allow him to watch Asia Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan, our cricketers must also show some conscience in a fitting tribute to the lives lost in Pahalgam.

As told to Rajat Rai

‘Why Should India Offer Water To Those Who Kill & Maim Our Citizens?’

By Lokmarg

Palak, a student from Patna pursuing Masters in Journalism from Sharda University, says India should have suspended Indus Water Treaty earlier. Her views:

As a regular college-going girl, I don’t claim to be an expert in international relations or defence strategies. But I do know one thing: when someone keeps hurting you over and over, and you keep helping them in return, it’s not kindness — it is weakness. And that’s exactly how I feel about the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan.

The treaty was signed way back in 1960. It gave India the rights to the eastern rivers — Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi — and Pakistan was assigned to use the waters of the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab. Even though more than 80% of the water flows to Pakistan, India never broke the deal, not even during several wars or consistent terror attacks on its soil. We stuck to it faithfully for over 60 years.

And, pray, what did we get in return?

Time and again, Pakistan has harboured terrorism, sheltered those who have harmed us, and done everything possible to subvert peace in our country. Our soldiers have been attacked, our borders violated, and instead of standing up against such violence, their government — and even their citizens — chose to look the other way. Is that neighbourly behaviour?

ALSO READ: ‘Indus Treaty Action Will End Like Op Sindoor – US Mediation’

Now imagine this — we are literally giving water every single day to a country which trains terrorists to cross into our land and kill or maim our people. This water helps their crops grow, supports their economy, and strengthens a nation that does nothing but provoke us. Why should we continue to do that?

Some people say it’s unfair to punish the common citizens of Pakistan. But I want to ask — when have their “common citizens” stood up for our civilians or soldiers? Did they ever raise their voice after Pulwama or Uri attacks? If their silence doesn’t hurt them, why should our silence continue to cost us?

It’s time India stops being soft. We need to be smart now. Suspending the Indus Water Treaty is not an act of cruelty — it’s a wake-up call. It tells the world that India values peace, but not at the cost of its self-respect or innocent lives.

Water is life — yes. But water can also be power. And if we keep letting that power flow freely to someone who uses it against us, we are betraying our own people. No?

As a student, I’m proud of my country. But I also want to see my country stand strong, take bold steps, and stop being taken for granted. We’ve waited long enough. We’ve hoped for peace long enough. But hope without action is just helplessness.

This decision isn’t about revenge. It’s about respect.

India isn’t turning cruel. We’re just finally turning clear!

told to Deepti Sharma

‘Indus Treaty Action Will Go The Same Way As Op Sindoor – US Mediation’

By Lokmarg

NR Mohanty, a teacher, commentator & social media influencer, says India has few backers on geopolitical chessboard to support its action on Indus Water Treaty. His views

Can India walk out of the 65-year-old Indus Water Treaty (IWT) unilaterally?

The answer is both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Yes, because we live in a lawless world. Although there is no one-sided exit clause in the IWT treaty, who can prevent us if we choose to do so! If the International Court of Justice (ICJ) indicts us, we can turn around and say, “ICJ, who?”

Didn’t Israel pooh-pooh the ICJ decree that the Jewish State was committing genocide in Gaza? Let’s remember the famous Thucydides’ line: “The strong do what they can; the weak suffer what they must.”

Israel can get away because it’s backed by the USA, militarily and economically the most powerful country in the world. Unfortunately, India has no backers, strong or weak. Not a single country has backed Operation Sindoor, India’s military retaliation against Pakistan, for sponsoring cross-border terrorism

After a seven-nation multi-party delegation went on a taxpayer-funded trip to 35 capitals of the world to convey India’s message about Pakistan being the hub of international terrorists, the UN Security Council designated Pakistan as the Chair and Vice Chair of two UN panels overseeing anti-terrorist activities

This amounted to a tight slap on the face of Indian diplomats and members of the seven-party delegation. Rubbing salt on injury, a top US General said on June 11 that Pakistan has been a valuable collaborator in the fight against terror!

Just ask those 50-odd individuals, who went on fortnight-long expensive vacation, if any country has endorsed the weaponisation of water by India in the Indo-Pak conflict — you will draw a blank. No country will say India is right in withholding water to Pakistan. Water is a natural resource; just because you are an upper riparian state, you have no moral or legal right to squeeze the tap meant for the lower riparian state. But India can go ahead and do so in complete disregard of the moral and legal imperative.

India says that it has only kept the IWT in abeyance, it has not abrogated it. India’s stated position is that the treaty will remain suspended until Pakistan mends its ways and gives up on terror. When Pakistan has never admitted to its cross-border terrorist activities, and when the UN Security Council is certifying its anti-terror credentials, how do you expect it to mend its ways?

So, it’s a fait accompli; the suspension of IWT remains in force for an indefinite period. What are its consequences?

It’s going to be disastrous. After all, 80% of Pakistan’s agriculture is dependent on Indus water; more than 90% of the water is used for non-agricultural purposes and sourced from the Indus. Imagine if India successfully obstructs the flow of water to Pakistan, our hostile neighbour will turn into an arid land and millions will die of starvation! As India Today Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa said the other day on TV, it’s a scenario ripe for a nuclear strike by Pakistan. “If you are dying, why not kill and die” would be the template for its military bosses, he said.

ALSO READ: ‘Poonch People Want Peace; War Only Brings Misery’

However, such an apocalyptic scenario is not likely to happen. It’s because India does not have the capacity to hold back the Indus in spate. The infrastructure needed to do so would cost billions and take decades to build, with all its ecological consequences. Yes, India can inflict pain on Pakistan during the lean season and damage the Rabi crops. It can withhold hydrological data and cause flash floods in parts of Pakistan.

Can Pakistan’s close ally, China, come to its rescue? China can’t help procure water for its friend, but it can cause damage to the common enemy, India. After all, in case of the Brahmaputra river, China is the upper riparian state and India is at the receiving end. Brahmaputra’s water is not as central to India’s needs as Indus is to Pakistan’s.

The Assam CM’s bravado that Assam would do better if China stops Brahmaputra water is a semi-educated response. His logic is that without Brahmaputra water, the annual flooding of Assam will stop during every monsoon. If China decides to build big dams on Brahmaputra — it has the advanced technology and financial wherewithal to do so — then it can cause intermittent floods in Assam round the year, causing unspeakable devastation. However, China is a prudent country; it will not invest billions just to punish India!

That brings us to the question: what is the endgame of the Indus Water Treaty theatre?

I have a hunch that it will end the same way the ceasefire after Operation Sindoor came about. There will be a hush-hush deliberation: the US team will prevail on India to restore the agreement; Trump will announce on ‘Truth Social’ that he helped broker the deal. Pakistan will profusely thank him for his mediation. India would say, without contradicting Trump, that it considered Pakistan’s appeal and agreed to restore the IWT. Our PM will go on TV to announce that he revoked the suspension of IWT as Pakistan agreed to stop cross-border terrorism.

Everyone will cheer. After all, a small diplomatic lie is par for the course to avert a big military disaster!

(The narrator, a former president of the JNU Students’ Union, has been the director, Jagran Institute of Management and Mass Communication (JIMMC), Noida. He is a former resident editor, The Times of India and Hindustan Times, Patna edition. His commentary on a current affair issue every morning is widely read on social media.)

As told to Amit Sengupta