Context: Recently, India has refused a request by Pakistan to hold a meeting on issues around Indus Water Treaty at the Attari checkpost near the India-Pakistan border.
Background

• The practice at the IWT meetings is that they are led by Indus Water Commissioners from both countries and a range of issues on construction of dams and hydropower projects concerning the Indus river system are discussed.
• Among the key points on the table was evolving a procedure to solve differences on technical aspects governing the construction of the Ratle run-of-the-river (RoR) project on the Chenab in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• India has called for the appointment of a ‘neutral’ party while Pakistan favours a Court of Arbitration to agree upon a final resolution on the design parameters of this hydropower project.

Present issue

• After the Uri attacks (2016) & Pulwama attacks (Feb. 2019), Indian govt. is planning to review IWT, and contain all excess water flowing from India’s share of eastern rivers into Pakistan at present, and divert it to Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan for different uses.
• India has the right to build RoR projects on Chenab, Jhelum and Indus provided it does so without substantially impeding water flow in Pakistan downstream.
• Pakistan believes that the project’s current design does pose a serious impediment and has wants a Court of Arbitration (CoA) set up to decide on the issue.
• India maintains that it is only a technical issue and mutually solvable.
• India wants a neutral party since a CoA could stall any form of construction on all Indus projects.

Significant Points

• According to the terms of the IWT, India has the right to build RoR projects on the three ‘western’ rivers — the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus — provided it does so without substantially impeding water flow in Pakistan downstream.
• Pakistan believes that the project’s current design does pose a serious impediment and has told the World Bank that it wants a Court of Arbitration (CoA) set up to decide on the issue.
• India says this is only a technical issue and mutually solvable and has agreed to a ‘neutral party’ since a CoA potentially could stall any form of construction on all Indus projects.

About Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)

• The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank, to use the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries.
• The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) was signed in Karachi in 1960.
• The Treaty gives control over the waters of the three “eastern rivers” — the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej to India, while control over the waters of the three “western rivers” — the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum to Pakistan.
• India was allocated about 16% of the total water carried by the Indus system while Pakistan was allocated the remainder.
• The treaty allows India to use the Western River waters (the ones in Pakistan’s control) for limited irrigation use and unlimited non-consumptive use for such applications as power generation, navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc.
• It lays down detailed regulations for India in building projects over the western rivers.
• The preamble of the treaty recognises the rights and obligations of each country in the optimum use of water from the Indus system in a spirit of goodwill, friendship and cooperation.

About Indus River Basin

• The Indus River (also called the Sindhu) is one of the longest rivers in Asia and the longest river of Pakistan.
• It flows through China (western Tibet), India (Ladakh) and Pakistan.
• Its estimated annual flow is estimated to be twice that of the Nile River making it one of the largest rivers in the world in terms of annual flow.
• The Zanskar is its left bank tributary in Ladakh.
• In the plains, its left bank tributary is the Panjnad which itself has five major tributaries, namely, the Chenab, Jhelum, the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej.
• Its principal right bank tributaries are the Shyok, the Gilgit, the Kabul, the Gomal, and the Kurram.