Daily Times

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday said that Pakistan would refuse to take any pressure from India on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

Khawaja Asif made these remarks while speaking to journalists after addressing a national seminar. He said, “Each and every clause of the IWT should be followed by both the signatories in letter and spirit.”

The seminar was titled “Hydro Politics around Pakistan: Reassessing the Efficacy of IWT” and was organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies, Research and Analysis (ISSRA) in Islamabad at the National Defence University (NDU).

The minister emphasised the need to conserve water, electricity and gas, and underscored the importance of developing a habit of conservation at every level.

Khawaja Asif said under the existing system, Pakistan had sufficient water resources to meet its needs but had to put an end to the culture of wastage.

He also informed that 6,500 megawatts of electricity would be added to the national grid from April to December this year. The electricity would be coming from five power generation plants out of which two are coal-fired and three are LNG-based.

The minister expressed confidence that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would fulfill his commitment to overcome load shedding by 2018.

Addressing participants of the seminar earlier, the minister had said that the IWT continued to bear the brunt of Indian interference in Pakistan’s water and this interference was increased in face of rising tensions between the two countries.

However, he added that the treaty was the only instrument to help avoid conflict and thus Pakistan should focus on implementation of the treaty in letter and spirit.

During the seminar, Asif also remarked that the country’s water security dilemma is worsened due to a lack of an effective water storage, conservation and management strategy. He added that this situation could be improved through efficient time management and a strong political will to translate plans into reality.

In his welcome address, NDU President Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar said the IWT had successfully established a technical formula and mechanism for water division of the Indus River Basin system in a highly politically volatile region between two hostile neighbours.

Other participants of the seminar emphasised that water had become an important factor in shaping the relationship between the two countries.

Highlighting Pakistan’s primary concerns regarding the IWT, participants at the seminar gave different suggestions to counter the Indian hydro-hegemony in an effective manner.