By KUNA,
Islamabad : Amid reports that Pakistan will seek compensation of the lost water, a Federal Minister Saturday said that Islamabad will not compromise on its share of water from India under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) of 1960.
“We are aware of the problem and Pakistan will not compromise on the water issue and resolve it,” said Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tareen here while addressing a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi.
India blocked the supply of regular water (23,000 cusecs a day) to Pakistan from the Chenab River last month while filling its Baglihar Dam (in disputed Jammu and Kashmir), badly affecting Pakistan’s share of irrigation water.
Pakistan considers the move as a violation of the September 1960 Indus Water Treaty, a water-sharing agreement between the two countries signed by then Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and president of Pakistan Ayub Khan. The World Bank is a signatory as a third party.
Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah Saturday left for India to discuss the matter with Indian officials. He will stay in India until October 24 and will also visit the Baglihar dam site in Jammu and Kashmir.
Foreign Minister Qureshi said that President Asif Ali Zardari during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New York had also raised the issue and the latter assured that the sanctity of IWT would be ensured.
According to the IWT, India has exclusive rights to use all of the waters of eastern rivers (the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi) and their tributaries before the point where the rivers enter Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistan has rights to use the waters of western rivers (the Indus, the Jhelum and Chenab) — all in Jammu and Kashmir.