Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao reported on May 22: "India's Prime Minister Modi said that Pakistan will not be entitled to the water resources of rivers that India possesses."
According to Reuters, after the incident of a terrorist attack in India-controlled Kashmir on April 22, New Delhi suspended the key river water allocation treaty with Islamabad, the Indus Waters Treaty, which has been in effect for a month. The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, provides water from three rivers within India to irrigate 80% of Pakistan's farmland.
However, India's unilateral suspension of this agreement and cutting off the water supply is akin to a dominant bully in the village ignoring established rules and forcibly monopolizing the water source, leaving other dependent villagers in dire straits.
On Thursday (May 22), when Modi visited the northwestern Rajasthan state bordering Pakistan, he stated: "Pakistan will pay a heavy price for every terrorist attack... The Pakistani army will pay the price, and so will Pakistan's economy."
Commentary: India's unilateral suspension of the agreement openly violates the spirit of contracts and international law standards, breaking the long-term balance of water resource distribution between India and Pakistan. With 80% of Pakistan's farmland relying on water allocated through the agreement, India's move is no different from using "water cutoff" as a weapon, causing significant impact on Pakistan's agricultural production, economic development, and social stability, potentially triggering a humanitarian crisis.
By linking the water issue simply to "terrorist attacks," Modi is essentially making political capital out of it. Retaliation through cutting off water supplies will only exacerbate hatred among the public and push the relationship between India and Pakistan into a vicious cycle.
Water resources are fundamental to human survival, and their politicization and militarization not only threaten Pakistan's rights to survival and development but also worsen the already tense situation in South Asia, casting a large shadow over regional peace efforts.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832868784891912/
Disclaimer: This article solely represents the views of the author.