LAHORE: Pakistan on Tuesday accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed under Pakistan’s control according to the now suspended Indus Waters Treaty.
This major river originates in India but was allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, signed by the two nuclear powers.
India suspended the treaty following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 people.
Islamabad warned that tampering with its rivers would be considered “an act of war.”
“We have witnessed changes in the river (Chenab) which are not natural at all,” Kazim Pirzada, irrigation minister for Punjab province, told AFP.
Punjab, bordering India and home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 240 million citizens, is the country’s agricultural heartland, and “the majority impact will be felt in areas which have fewer alternate water routes,” Pirzada warned.
“One day the river had normal inflow and the next day it was greatly reduced,” Pirzada added.
In Azad Kashmir, large quantities of water from India were reportedly released on April 26, according to the Jinnah Institute, a think tank led by a former Pakistani climate change minister.
“This is being done so that we don’t get to utilize the water,” Pirzada added.
The gates of the sluice spillways on the Baglihar dam in Indian-administered Kashmir which lies upstream of Pakistani Punjab “have been lowered to restrict water flow ... as a short-term punitive action,” a senior Indian official has told The Indian Express.
The Indus Waters Treaty permits India to use shared rivers for dams or irrigation but prohibits diverting watercourses or altering downstream volumes.
Indian authorities have not commented yet but Kushvinder Vohra, former head of India’s Central Water Commission, told The Times of India: “Since the treaty is on pause ... we may do flushing on any project without any obligation.”
Experts said the water cannot be stopped in the longer term, and that India can only regulate timings of when it releases flows.
However, the Jinnah Institute warned: “Even small changes in the timing of water releases can disrupt sowing calendars (and) reduce crop yields.”
Pakistan accuses India of altering Chenab River flow as tensions rise
https://arab.news/prbr8
Pakistan accuses India of altering Chenab River flow as tensions rise
- Punjab irrigation minister says Pakistan has ‘witnessed changes in the river which are not natural’
- India recently lowered the sluice gates of the Baglihar dam to restrict water as a ‘punitive action’
Pakistan, Bangladesh agree to strengthen economic, trade and tax cooperation
- Bangladesh High Commissioner Iqbal Hussain Khan meets Federal Board of Revenue chairman in Islamabad
- A delegation of Bangladesh’s revenue authority is in Pakistan to discuss tax convention between Islamabad, Dhaka
ISLAMABAD: Bangladesh High Commissioner Iqbal Hussain Khan met Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial this week to discuss measures related to enhancing economic, trade and tax cooperation, the FBR said in a statement.
Currently, a high-level delegation of Bangladesh’s National Board of Revenue (NBR) is on a five-day visit to Pakistan to initiate negotiations to amend the existing Convention for Avoidance of Double Taxation & Prevention of Fiscal Evasion regarding taxes on income.
Khan met Langrial at the FBR headquarters in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Monday during which both sides reviewed their historic ties and agreed to strengthen them further.
“FBR spokesperson and NBR exchanged views and shared experiences on matters relating to international taxation and agreed to enhance institutional collaboration through regular engagements for stronger economic cooperation,” the FBR said in a statement on social media platform X.
Islamabad and Dhaka have attempted to move closer in recent times after the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024 following violent protests in Bangladesh.
During Hasina’s tenure, Bangladesh had bitter ties with Pakistan and had forged closer relations with Islamabad’s traditional rival India.
Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the same country in 1971 before the latter seceded into a separate country following a bloody war.
