UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked India and Pakistan to resolve water issues among themselves
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed hope that India and Pakistan will bilaterally resolve issues over water-sharing, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the waters of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers that rightfully belong to India will be stopped from going waste in Pakistan.
"We will take a look at the issue on water. Obviously, we hope it's something that the two parties can resolve themselves," Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at the daily press briefing yesterday when asked about PM Modi's remarks on the Indus Waters Treaty amid escalating tensions between the two nations.
Addressing a rally in Punjab last week, Prime Minister Modi had said the waters of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers that rightfully belong to India will be stopped from going waste in Pakistan and he will ensure that farmers in India utilise it.
"Now, every drop of this water will be stopped and I will give that to farmers of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. I am committed to this," he had said.
Last week, during a Security Council debate on water, peace and security, Mr Ban had cited the Indus Waters Treaty signed by India and Pakistan as well as other similar agreements "as instruments promoting stability and peace" and said "shared water resources often generated cooperation".
During the debate, Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi had appealed against use of water as instrument of coercion or war.