India to squeeze Pak on Indus
Blood and water can’t flow together, says PM; meet considers ‘legal’ options to hurt Islamabad
Blood and water cannot flow together, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday amid calls to scrap a 56-year-old water pact with Pakistan over repeated cross-border terrorist attacks, the latest in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri.
India prepared an aggressive stand against Pakistan after terrorists murdered 18 soldiers at the Uri army base on September 18, eight months after a similar audacious attack on the Pathankot airbase in which seven soldiers were killed.
The government has options to hurt Pakistan within its legal rights under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 as all political parties in Jammu and Kashmir had supported such a move in the past. This message was sent out after a meeting of top officials that Prime Minister Modi chaired on Monday.
The tone of the brief was set by the Prime Minister’s remarks: rakt (blood) and paani (water) cannot flow together. He chaired a meeting that reviewed a treaty that took 10 years to negotiate and sign.
But the government hasn’t indicated yet on either abrogating or suspending the pact, one of the three water-sharing agreements India is party to in the region.
The outcome of the meeting is four-fold. An inter-ministerial panel will review the working of the pact and expedite measures to exploit India’s rights over three rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.
Besides, the Indus water commissioners, who represent each country, will function only in an atmosphere free of terrorism. They have so far met 112 times, at an average of twice a year.
India will step up efforts to make use of its rights in three western rivers for agriculture, storage and hydro-electric power generation.
New Delhi will review its voluntary suspension of Tulbul navigational project, which Pakistan calls Wullar barrage on the Jhelum, at the mouth of Wullar lake.
In a tacit reference to Pakistan’s policy of acting against “bad” terrorists while turning a blind eye to “good” terrorists, Swaraj said there should be no distinction between terrorists and the world community should “join hands to script an effective strategy” against the menace.
“If any nation refuses to join this global strategy we must isolate it. In our midst, there are nations that still speak the language of terrorism, that nurture it, peddle it, and export it. To shelter terrorists has become their calling card. We must identify these nations and hold them to account,” she said.
Without naming Lashkar-eTaiba founder Hafiz Saeed, designated a terrorist by the UN Security Council and the US, Swaraj said: “These nations, in which UN-designated terrorists roam freely, lead processions and deliver their poisonous sermons of hate with impunity, are as culpable as the very terrorists they harbour. Such countries should have no place in the comity of nations.”
Swaraj also rejected Sharif ’s contention that India had set pre-conditions for talks.
“Did we impose any precondition before extending an invitation for the oath-taking ceremony of our government? Did we impose any pre-condition when I went to Islamabad for the Heart of Asia conference and agreed to begin the comprehensive bilateral dialogue? Did we impose any precondition when Prime Minister Modi travelled from Kabul to Lahore?”
She said the world community is yet to reach a conclusion on a comprehensive convention on international terrorism proposed by India in 1996. This has prevented nations from agreeing on “norms to punish and extradite terrorists” and there is need to act with “fresh urgency to adopt this convention”.
Swaraj also brought up the reform of the UN Security Council so that it does not remain an outdated body that “reflects the world order of an older era” and comes to terms with present day realities.
In a speech seeking to marry New Delhi’s national interest with global objectives to buttress its stature as an emerging global power, Swaraj stressed India’s commitment to climate change and announced it will submit its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who, she added, “epitomised a lifestyle with the smallest carbon footprint”.
She also emphasised India’s commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which she said, were “matched by the development vision of my government, which is geared towards the achievement of these same objectives”. Several schemes of the Indian government dovetailed with the SDGs, such as the Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Make in India and Digital India campaigns.
While India will play a leading role in combating climate change through measures such an international solar alliance, it expects developed nations to hold up their end of the bargain by providing finance and technology transfers.