There is unanimous agreement that India is manipulating downstream waters for geopolitical gains. Clearly adopting transgression as a modus operandi to further water terrorism, it disregards international law and bilateral legal instruments. By unilaterally suspending the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), Delhi is now pursuing a controversial hydroelectric project on the Chenab River in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). This confirms India's relentless efforts to penalize Pakistan on socio-economic grounds.
Escalating Hydro-Political Tensions
The inevitable rise in hydro-political tension does not bode well for India either, as it will impact the region's ecology and heighten hostility between the nuclear neighbors. The 260-megawatt Dulhasti Stage-II project, intended to further restrict downstream flows to Pakistan, deals another blow to the amicably agreed IWT. It negates the understanding that no ex-parte decisions can be made on water channels and undermines cooperative transboundary water governance protocols.
Threat to Pakistan's Water Security
If constructed, the project will further jeopardize Pakistan's water security. Islamabad has already warned that any attempt to throttle its due water share will be considered an act of war and reciprocated accordingly. This unilateral infrastructure expansion reflects India's hegemonic designs and must be collectively condemned by regional states.
Ironically, the Dulhasti obsession was announced just days after India received a lawful rebuke from the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The court ruled that Pakistan's position on maximum pondage limits is rational and that India's policy of constructing hydroelectric projects on western rivers violates the spirit of the IWT. Declaring designs for the Rattle and Kishanganga projects illegal, the ruling noted that India cannot simply claim large storage capacity without solid justification.
Given this lawful limitation on India's ability to control water on western rivers, the new provocation at Dulhasti amounts to engineered terrorism.
