‘Why Should India Honour a Treaty When Pak Repeatedly Stabs Us in the Back’

Yashraj Srivastava, a B.Ed student in Lucknow University, says suspension of Indus treaty seeks to punish a belligerent neighbour which wants to destabilize India. His views:

It is true that the suspension of the treaty will only affect the poor Pakistani citizens who are already burdened under heavy debts and ever rising inflation in the country thanks to their politicians and military, but Pakistan has been in the habit of promoting terrorism and back stabbing ever since its inception.

The Treaty has been one of the most resilient political agreements between the two countries surviving extended periods of hostility and multiple wars and placing the treaty in ‘abeyance’ definitely marks a serious escalation. However, India has neither withdrawn from the treaty nor altered river flows, but paused procedural cooperation—using law, not water, for leverage.

It is also to be noted that Pakistan’s state-sponsored cross-border terrorism in India always seeks to hold hostage the lives of civilians, religious harmony and economic prosperity of India and over the last 40 years, more than 20,000 Indian lives have been lost due to the terror attacks originating from Pakistan.

It is to be noted that the Indus River network, comprising the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers, serves as Pakistan’s principal water resource, supporting a population of tens of millions. The water meets 23% of agricultural needs which supports Pakistan 68% of its rural inhabitants.

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Pakistan which is already facing an economic crisis will be impacted due to reduced water availability as it will lead to lower crop yields, food shortages, and economic instability in rural areas dependent on farming.

As India had the option of suspending the treaty once and for all since day one but due to lackluster approach of the previous governments (in handling cross border terrorism), it could now well serve as the last nail in the coffin of the terror supporting nation. India has waited for decades, upheld its word, even when Pakistan didn’t. But enough is enough. A treaty without trust is just a paper. Let’s turn that paper into pressure — for peace, or for consequences.

Besides the deep scars induced to Pakistan by suspending the IWT, it also comes as a pleasant surprise to see how the leaders of opposition have also come together with the team of the central government and the joint delegation has been battering Pakistan around the world. Though some of the leaders of opposition parties have become an eye-scar for their own parent parties, they all have united strongly for the cause of the country.

As told to Rajat Rai