🌊 Indus Waters Treaty in Abeyance: A Constitutional Wake-up Call
🖋️ By Team Suryavanshi IAS – Your Partner for Thoughtful UPSC Preparation
🔎
Why You Must Read This
🌐
Background: What Just Happened?
For the first
time since 1960, India has put the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance—a move triggered
post the Pahalgam terror attack
in April 2025. This shift—though symbolic for now—challenges the traditional
view of water as a neutral
resource in India-Pakistan ties.
But the bigger question UPSC wants you to
answer is:
❓ What does this mean constitutionally, geopolitically, and environmentally?
📜 A
Quick Recap: What is the Indus Waters Treaty?
|
🎯 Signed |
1960, brokered
by the World Bank |
|
🇮🇳
India gets |
Ravi, Beas, Sutlej (Eastern Rivers) |
|
🇵🇰
Pakistan gets |
Indus, Chenab, Jhelum (Western Rivers) |
|
⚙️
India’s rights on Western Rivers |
Non-consumptive (e.g., hydropower) only |
🔗 Key Feature: Tripartite (India, Pakistan, World Bank)
⚖️
Constitutional Angle – What UPSC Expects You to Know
1. Treaty Implementation and Indian Constitution
·
Under Article
253, Parliament holds power to implement international treaties,
even in subjects under State
List (like water).
·
The Indus
Waters Treaty, though not passed as a statute, has been respected as binding in
international law.
🧠 UPSC Keyword: Article 51(c) – India shall foster respect for international law.
2. Federal Tensions: Centre vs. States
While water is a State subject under Entry 17, List II,
treaty-making is a Union
prerogative.
✅ Case in Point: Punjab and J&K
(pre-reorg.) have often objected to Centre's concessions under IWT.
📌 UPSC GS-II theme: "Centre-State relations" and "Inter-State river water disputes"
3. Strategic Use of Water: Legal or Not?
India invokes "territorial sovereignty",
a legal doctrine allowing states to utilize waters flowing through their
territory.
Pakistan counters with "no-harm rule"
and "historical usage
rights" under customary international law.
❗ But treaties override general principles. So India’s move to suspend IWT, though legal internally, may be contested under international law unless renegotiated formally.
🌏
Geo-Strategic Implications – What This Means Internationally
·
India’s
message: Water can no longer be a guaranteed entitlement if terrorism continues.
·
Pakistan’s
concern: Disruption of flows, especially in Chenab, where it lacks
storage.
·
World
Bank’s dilemma: Two competing dispute resolution paths since
2013—both unresolved.
🔍 UPSC Point: Can natural resources be used as diplomatic levers? Link this to India’s evolving foreign policy.
🧪
Environmental & Ethical Takeaways
1. Treaty Outdated?
·
IWT lacks any reference to climate change, flood control, or aquatic ecology.
·
India needs a treaty that reflects 21st-century environmental governance.
🧪 GS-III link: Environmental impact of treaties. Think ESSAY and GS-III (Water Security).
2. Ethical Question: Water as a Weapon?
·
Flushing sediment during dry seasons (as India
did with Baglihar) could hurt livelihoods.
·
Does symbolic use of water align with ethical statecraft?
🔍 GS-IV Insight: Ethics in foreign policy – "Ends vs. Means" dilemma.
🧩
Suryavanshi IAS Model Answer Capsule
Q.
“The Indus Waters Treaty is often cited as a
model of hydro-diplomacy. Critically examine its legal and strategic relevance
in light of recent developments.” (250 words, GS-II)
·
Constitutional validity via Art. 253 & 51(c)
·
Strategic leverage vs. treaty obligation
·
Federal implications
📌
Conclusion: What Suryavanshi IAS Recommends
“Don’t
just study the Indus Waters Treaty— understand why it has
lasted, why it’s shaking, and what it teaches about realpolitik and constitutionalism.”
– Suryavanshi IAS Faculty Panel
🚀
Learn More with Suryavanshi IAS
At Suryavanshi
IAS, we don’t believe in shortcuts. We train aspirants to see the Constitution behind the current
affairs, to write rank-worthy
answers, and to build GS,
Essay & Ethics like a topper.
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