Pakistan's population has an inalienable right to water from the Indus, says info minister

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Tuesday that the 240 million people of Pakistan had an “inalienable right” to water from the Indus River System. “When we say that Indus is our lifeline and our people, the 240m people of Pakistan, have an inalienable right to the water of Indus, we mean it, from the core of our heart,” he said, highlighting the significance of Indus for the country. The minister expressed these views at a seminar held in Islamabad to highlight the legal and constitutional framework of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a water-sharing agreement that remains a contentious issue between India and Pakistan. Tarar began his speech by describing the IWT as “an instrument of peace and regional stability”. “Today, we are not merely discussing the treaty. We are discussing the lifeline of nearly 240 million people of Pakistan,” he said. He added, “When we identify ourselves as Pakistanis, we ask a question as to who we are. And if you go back into history, the Indus water [sic] civilisation defines us as a people. “Whenever I go abroad, I always tell my counterparts that we are the people of the Indus Valley civilisation. Our identification is that we are people based on the banks and tributaries of the mighty Indus River.” The minister said water was life, and the “Indus has given life to Pakistan”. More to follow