Devendra Kumar Sharma, Member, National Security Advisory Board and former Chairman, Bhakra Beas Management Board
New Delhi
The decades-old debate over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has resurfaced with water resources expert Devendra Kumar Sharma arguing that Pakistan’s long-standing narrative on the river water sharing ignores historical facts and as well as ground and hydrological realities.
Sharma contends that Pakistan has consistently projected itself as a victim of India’s water policies despite receiving the larger share of the Indus basin’s waters under the 1960 treaty. He argues that India, as the upper riparian state, remains constrained in utilising the waters flowing through its territory, while Pakistan continues to benefit from the bulk of the western rivers.
Tracing the origins of the dispute to the aftermath of Partition, Sharma says the treaty granted Pakistan rights over the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers, while India retained control of the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. He maintains that the arrangement significantly restricted India’s long-term water development potential despite the rivers originating largely within its territory.
The article also criticises Pakistan’s repeated attempts to internationalise the issue, alleging that it has accused India of “weaponising water” while failing to address inefficiencies in its own irrigation network, water losses and poor resource management.
Sharma argues that rising water demand across northern India has renewed the need for the country to fully utilise its treaty-entitled share through better storage, irrigation and hydropower infrastructure, without violating international obligations.
He concludes that future discourse on the Indus basin should be guided by scientific evidence and India’s changed water needs and treaty provisions rather than political rhetoric, adding that improved domestic water management in Pakistan would contribute more to regional water security than diplomatic confrontation.