Indus waters treaty under strain

The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 is widely regarded as one of the most enduring water-sharing agreements in the world. Under the Treaty, the three Western Rivers (the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) were allocated to Pakistan, while India received unrestricted rights over the three Eastern Rivers (Sutlej, Beas and Ravi). Despite this clear division, recent developments suggest that India is moving towards the diversion of water from the Chenab River, a Western River allocated to Pakistan, into Indian-controlled river systems. According to reports, India has begun work on an 8.7-kilometre tunnel through the Great Himalayan watershed. Once completed, the tunnel is expected to transfer water from the Chenab through a 113-kilometre canal into the Beas basin. This project effectively seeks to move water from a river system allocated to Pakistan into one allocated to India under the Treaty. This development is significant not merely because of the volume of water involved, but because of its implications for the fundamental architecture of the Indus Waters Treaty. India’s rights over the Chenab are limited and specifically defined within the Treaty. These rights relate to domestic use, non-consumptive use, agricultural use within prescribed limits and certain hydroelectric projects, all confined to the Chenab drainage basin itself. The Beas basin falls outside that drainage system. Consequently, transferring water from the Chenab basin to the Beas basin raises serious legal and treaty-related questions.The Treaty was founded on the principle of separation between the Eastern and Western river systems. Any inter-basin transfer between the two systems touches upon the very framework upon which the Treaty was negotiated and implemented. For more than six decades, the Indus Waters Treaty survived multiple wars, military crises and periods of severe political tension because both countries broadly adhered to its central principles. The current controversy emerges at a time when