Pakistan has taken up the Indus Waters Treaty issue with International Court Of Justice and World Bank.
Highlights
- Pak has moved International Court of Justice over Indus Waters Treaty
- Pak has also taken up the issue with World Bank that brokered the deal
- Reviewing treaty, PM Modi had said, "blood and water can't flow together"
Stung by reports that India is reviewing the Indus Waters Treaty after the Uri terror attack, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that
"blood and water cannot flow together", Pakistan has approached the World Bank.
The World Bank "committed itself to timely fulfilling its obligations under the treaty while remaining neutral," said a statement issued by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington today.
Reports say Pakistan has also gone to
the International Court of Justice.
The World Bank brokered the 1960 agreement that regulates the flow of six rivers between India and Pakistan.
A delegation led by Pakistan's top lawyer, Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali, met senior World Bank officials in Washington on Tuesday. The team reportedly urged the World Bank to accelerate the process of appointing judges for a Court of Arbitration. The treaty gives the global lender an important role in establishing the Court of Arbitration by facilitating the appointment of three judges, called Umpires, while each country appoints two arbitrators.
Pakistan's foreign policy adviser Sartaz Aziz said in the National Assembly yesterday that if India revokes the treaty, it will be treated as "
an act of war or a hostile act against Pakistan".
Pakistan's pre-emptive strike follows PM Modi's meeting on Monday to assess the treaty as India debates tough steps against Pakistan after 18 soldiers were killed in an attack on an army base in Kashmir's Uri on September 18.
Sources say one retaliatory move being considered by the government is to "maximise" the use of water from the rivers governed by Pakistan - Chenab, Jhelum and Indus. This will impact Pakistan as it depends on snow-fed Himalayan rivers for everything from drinking water to agriculture.
The Indus Waters Treaty gives India rights to use the eastern rivers - Ravi, Sutlej and Beas - and Pakistan has control over the three western rivers.
In a series of moves to isolate Pakistan,
India has also pulled out of the SAARC summit in Islamabad and PM Modi has also called for a deliberation on Thursday of whether to
downgrade the country's status as a trading partner.