Confrontations Over Riparian Issues

After the attack on an Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri sector on 18 September 2016 by the militants in which twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives, the Government of India gave a call to scrap the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) of 1960 between India and Pakistan. This created ripples in both countries. For Pakistan the Indus River System (IRS) is a lifeline and without water from the rivers constituting the system, the country would lose its existence. In India many welcomed this decision while some questioned its rationality. After a few days the Government of India toned down its position. While India and Pakistan were exchanging words over the IWT, the World Bank tried to mediate to calm down the situation, especially on the issue of the Kishan Ganga project over which the Court of Arbitration is yet to deliver its final decision. But soon, under India’s diplomatic pressure, the World Bank changed its position and in a communiqué said that the two riparian countries should try to resolve their water related disputes bilaterally.