ISLAMABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan said on Sunday he was satisfied with the efforts of various state departments and institutions to contain the coronavirus pandemic in the territory.
On Monday, a three week lockdown in the territory came into effect for its roughly 4 million residents. Khan said there were currently 90 people suspected to have contracted the disease, with two testing positive and six whose final results were awaited. No fatalities have so far been reported in the region.
“As the testing increases, there may be other cases but by and large the impact of coronavirus is less in the region,” the president told Arab News and added: “We are not facing any food shortages so far and supply chains are fully working.
The lockdown has been enforced in all big and small cities, he added, with various measures adopted for social distancing as well as to ensure little participation in religious congregations and social gatherings.
He said the government had set up quarantine centers and upgraded facilities at all major hospitals, and Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had extended its help.
At the same time, Khan said he was deeply concerned about the spread of the pandemic across the border in Indian administered Kashmir, and urged the Indian government to immediately release thousands of Kashmiris languishing in various Indian prisons.
He said the prisons in India and Indian administered Kashmir were crowded beyond capacity.
“The outbreak of COVID-19 has necessitated immediate release of all the prisoners particularly the inmates suffering from complicated diseases,” he said.
“People in Indian Kashmir are under double lockdown,” he added and appealed to the international community, particularly the United Nations, to take strict notice of new restrictions imposed by India on the movement of citizens and on the Internet in Indian administered Kashmir.
“The people of occupied Kashmir are facing great difficulties in reaching hospitals and health facilities due to the latest Indian restrictions, and getting information about the COVID-19 due to blockade of Internet services,” he said, and warned the current state of affairs could lead to a faster spread of the virus in the Indian administered territory.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement the humanitarian situation in Indian administered Kashmir had been dire since August last year, and called for the immediate release of Kashmiri prisoners and the lifting of restrictions in the territory in the wake of the deadly new pandemic sweeping the world.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in India crossed the 1,000 mark on Sunday with around 33 cases in Indian administered Kashmir.
Lockdown to stem virus in Azad Kashmir so far effective, says president
https://arab.news/c6a85
Lockdown to stem virus in Azad Kashmir so far effective, says president
- Says 90 suspected cases in region with two testing positive so far
- Khan urged Indian government to immediately release thousands of Kashmiris languishing in Indian prisons
Pakistan accuses India of manipulating Indus waters, warns of risks to regional peace
- India announced in April it was putting the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance over a gun attack in disputed Kashmir it blamed on Pakistan
- Islamabad says it has witnessed ‘unusual, abrupt variations’ in the flow of Chenab river, accusing New Delhi of ‘material breaches’ of treaty
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday accused India of manipulating flows of Indus waters in violation of a 1960 water-sharing treaty, warning that unilateral actions over the transboundary waters could heighten tensions and pose risks to regional peace.
The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), mediated by the World Bank, divides control of the Indus basin rivers between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. India said in April it was holding the treaty “in abeyance” after a gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed more than 26 tourists. New Delhi blamed the assault on Pakistan, Islamabad denied it.
The treaty grants Pakistan rights to the Indus basin’s western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement.
Speaking to foreign envoys in Islamabad, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar accused New Delhi of “material breaches” of the IWT that may have consequences for regional stability, citing “unusual, abrupt variations” in the flow of Chenab river from April 30 to May 21 and from Dec. 7 to Dec. 15.
“These variations in water flows are of extreme concern for Pakistan as they point to unilateral release of water by India into River Chenab. India has released this water without any prior notification or any data- or information-sharing with Pakistan as required under the treaty,” he said.
“India’s most recent action clearly exemplifies the weaponization of water to which Pakistan has been consistently drawing attention of the international community.”
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Dar said this water “manipulation” occurs at a critical time in Pakistan’s agricultural cycle and directly threatens the lives and livelihoods as well as food and economic security of its citizens.
He shared that Indian actions prompted Indus Water Commissioner Mehar Ali Shah to write a letter to his Indian counterpart, seeking clarification on the matter as provided under the Indus Waters Treaty.
“We expect India to respond to the queries raised by Pakistan’s Indus water commissioner, refrain from any unilateral manipulation of river flows, and fulfill all its obligations in letter and spirit under the Indus Waters Treaty provisions,” the Pakistani deputy premier said.
Dar also accused India of consistently trying to undermine the IWT by building various dams, including Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects, which he said sets “a very dangerous precedent.”
“Alarmingly, India is now subverting the treaty’s own dispute resolution mechanism by refusing to participate in the Court of Arbitration and neutral expert proceedings. India is pursuing a deliberate strategy to sabotage the well-established arbitration process under the treaty provisions,” he said.
The South Asian neighbors have been arguing over hydroelectric projects on the shared Indus river system for decades, with Pakistan complaining that India’s planned hydropower dams will cut its flows.
In August, the International Court of Arbitration rendered an award on issues of general interpretation of the IWT, explaining the designed criteria for the new run-of-river hydropower projects to be constructed by India on the western rivers of Chenab, Jhelum and Indus, which Islamabad said vindicated its stance.
In its findings, the Court of Arbitration declared that India shall “let flow” the waters of the western rivers for Pakistan’s unrestricted use. In that connection, the specified exceptions for generation of hydro-electric plants must conform strictly to the requirements laid down in the Treaty, rather than to what India might consider an “ideal” or “best practices approach,” according to the Pakistani foreign office.
“Pakistan would like to reiterate that Indus Waters Treaty is a binding legal instrument that has made an invaluable contribution to peace and stability of South Asia,” Dar said.
“Its violation, on the one hand, threatens the inviolability of international treaties and on the other, it poses serious risks to regional peace and security, principles of good neighborhood, and norms that govern inter-state relations.”
