UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for respecting and implementing the Indus Water Treaty between Islamabad and New Delhi, in letter and spirit.
Speaking at a preparatory meeting for the UN Water Conference 2023, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Munir Akram said in New York that any changes on the other side of the border have a direct impact on Pakistan.
According to World Bank report, the Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory. The negotiations were the initiative of former World Bank President Eugene Black. Seen as one of the most successful international treaties, it has survived frequent tensions, including conflict, and has provided a framework for irrigation and hydropower development for more than half a century. Former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower described it as “one bright spot … in a very depressing world picture that we see so often.”
Emphasizing the need to ensure trans-boundary water cooperation to ensure the right and obligations of lower and upper riparian states, Ambassador Munir Akram called for upholding of environmental principles like precaution, polluter pays, and no-harm in maintaining fresh water resources including trans-boundary rivers.
He said Pakistan is among the top ten water scarce countries in the world and has also been among the top ten climate vulnerable countries.
He said recurrent spells of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, glacial lake outbursts, cyclones and heat waves have taken a heavy toll on both life and property and adversely affected Pakistan’s economic growth.
