Indus Waters Treaty: Pakistan asks International Court of Justice, World Bank to intervene
Islamabad's delegation asked the bank's officials to appoint an arbitration judges immediately and said that any violation would be seen as an act of war.
Pakistan on Wednesday sought the International Court of Justice and World Bank’s intervention in its tussle with India over the Indus Waters Treaty, NDTV reported. India decided to review the decades-old treaty after the attack on an Army base in Uri, Kashmir, which it suspects was sponsored by Islamabad, as a way to hit back at Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said “blood and water cannot flow together”.
In 1960, the World Bank had coordinated the treaty that divides the flow of six rivers between the rival countries. According to the treaty, India controls Beas, Ravi and Sutlej, and Pakistan holds reign over Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. On August 19, Pakistan had requested the Court of Arbitration’s intervention in the resolution of disputes related to India’s Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric plant projects on rivers Neelum and Chenab respectively, PTI reported.
Islamabad’s Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali led a delegation to the World Bank in Washington on Tuesday, and urged its officials to appoint judges to the Court of Arbitration at the earliest. Three judges or “umpires” will preside over the matter. Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaz Aziz, on Monday, said that India could not unilaterally revoke the treaty. He said a violation of the treaty would be considered as a “an act of war or a hostile act against Pakistan”.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated after the militant attack on an Army base in Kashmir’s Uri sector that left 18 soldiers dead on September 18. India believes the attack was orchestrated by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit. However, Pakistan said that the allegations levelled against it are baseless.
Pakistan has also held India responsible for the crisis in the Kashmir Valley since the death of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani on July 8. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that the Uri attack could be a fallout of the alleged human rights violations in the region in the past two months.