*Build your vocabulary...editorial from the hindu*
*CROSSING A BRIDGE
Even in the fraught (से भरा) and volatile (अस्थिर) framework (ढांचा) of India-Pakistan ties (संबंधों), the Permanent IndusCommission mandated(अनिवार्य) to implement (लागु) the 1960Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has met likeclockwork, 112 times in 56 years, annually ineach country. The commission has experts wholook into issues and disputes (विवादों) on the groundover the utilisation of the waters of six rivers ofthe Indus system. Under the treaty, India has fulluse of the three “eastern” rivers (Beas, Ravi,Sutlej), while Pakistan has control over the three“western” rivers (Indus, Chenab, Jhelum),although India is given rights to use thesepartially as well for certain purposes. As a result,there should be little to comment in the normalcourse when India accepts Pakistan’s invitationto the next round of talks, as it has for thePermanent Indus Commission in Lahore laterthis month. The move is welcome, as it denotesIndia’s commitment to the treaty that has stoodthe test of time and war, and also displays NewDelhi’s sincerity on the issue of water-sharing,given that the IWT is seen to be a model indispute management. In September last year,doubts had been raised over India’scommitment after the terrorist attack on anarmy camp in Uri, killing 19 soldiers. In the daysthat followed, senior officials announced thesuspension of talks until there was an“atmosphere free of terror” after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi held a review meeting on thetreaty to consider retaliatory (प्रतिकार)measures (उपायों) against Pakistan for the attack, saying, “blood and watercannot go together”. Mr. Modi repeated some of those angry sentiments at public rallies where he said India would not allow even a “drop of water” to go waste into Pakistan. The atmosphere (वातावरण)was also charged after the government announced “surgical strikes” had been carried out along the Line of Control and subsequently pulled out from the SPARC summit in Pakistan, leading to fears of a freeze in bilateral(द्विपक्षीय) ties.
In the event, the government has chosen wisely,with some encouragement from the World Bank and persistence (हठ)by Pakistan, to step back from much of that rhetoric(बयानबाजी), and allow IWT commissioners from both countries to meet.The decision follows several other moves between India and Pakistan in the past fewweeks indicating a softening(नरमी) of positions on some other issues as well: from a marked reduction in LoC firing, the regular annual exchange of nuclear lists, the release of prisoners by both countries, and India being partof the consensus to elect the Pakistani nominee as the SAARC Secretary-General this week. It would be premature to expect that any of these events, some of which are routine, consolidate a thaw (पिघलना)in relations between the two countries.However, they reaffirm(पुनः पुष्टि की) the high stakes(दावं) that are woven(बुना) into India-Pakistan relations, and the need to keep certain issues such as water-sharing above the politics of the moment.
*CROSSING A BRIDGE
Even in the fraught (से भरा) and volatile (अस्थिर) framework (ढांचा) of India-Pakistan ties (संबंधों), the Permanent IndusCommission mandated(अनिवार्य) to implement (लागु) the 1960Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has met likeclockwork, 112 times in 56 years, annually ineach country. The commission has experts wholook into issues and disputes (विवादों) on the groundover the utilisation of the waters of six rivers ofthe Indus system. Under the treaty, India has fulluse of the three “eastern” rivers (Beas, Ravi,Sutlej), while Pakistan has control over the three“western” rivers (Indus, Chenab, Jhelum),although India is given rights to use thesepartially as well for certain purposes. As a result,there should be little to comment in the normalcourse when India accepts Pakistan’s invitationto the next round of talks, as it has for thePermanent Indus Commission in Lahore laterthis month. The move is welcome, as it denotesIndia’s commitment to the treaty that has stoodthe test of time and war, and also displays NewDelhi’s sincerity on the issue of water-sharing,given that the IWT is seen to be a model indispute management. In September last year,doubts had been raised over India’scommitment after the terrorist attack on anarmy camp in Uri, killing 19 soldiers. In the daysthat followed, senior officials announced thesuspension of talks until there was an“atmosphere free of terror” after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi held a review meeting on thetreaty to consider retaliatory (प्रतिकार)measures (उपायों) against Pakistan for the attack, saying, “blood and watercannot go together”. Mr. Modi repeated some of those angry sentiments at public rallies where he said India would not allow even a “drop of water” to go waste into Pakistan. The atmosphere (वातावरण)was also charged after the government announced “surgical strikes” had been carried out along the Line of Control and subsequently pulled out from the SPARC summit in Pakistan, leading to fears of a freeze in bilateral(द्विपक्षीय) ties.
In the event, the government has chosen wisely,with some encouragement from the World Bank and persistence (हठ)by Pakistan, to step back from much of that rhetoric(बयानबाजी), and allow IWT commissioners from both countries to meet.The decision follows several other moves between India and Pakistan in the past fewweeks indicating a softening(नरमी) of positions on some other issues as well: from a marked reduction in LoC firing, the regular annual exchange of nuclear lists, the release of prisoners by both countries, and India being partof the consensus to elect the Pakistani nominee as the SAARC Secretary-General this week. It would be premature to expect that any of these events, some of which are routine, consolidate a thaw (पिघलना)in relations between the two countries.However, they reaffirm(पुनः पुष्टि की) the high stakes(दावं) that are woven(बुना) into India-Pakistan relations, and the need to keep certain issues such as water-sharing above the politics of the moment.
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