Indus Waters Treaty

Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "India's External Relations"

Meaning

The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-sharing agreement signed by India and Pakistan in Karachi on 19 September 1960. Under it:

• India got the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) for unrestricted use.
• Pakistan got the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab).
• India kept some limited uses of the western rivers.

The World Bank mediated the talks and also signed the treaty [4]. The treaty matters because it lasted through decades of conflict. It also shapes how India uses the rivers of J&K. In April 2025, India placed it "in abeyance" [2][3].

Explanation

How the treaty was made

• Who signed: Jawaharlal Nehru and General Ayub Khan signed it in Karachi.
• Third signatory: The World Bank also signed, but only for certain limited roles [4].
• Mediation: The World Bank's President, Eugene Black, started the effort. Mediation means helping two sides reach a deal without forcing one on them.
• Time taken: Talks went on for nine years before the treaty was signed in 1960 [4].

How the rivers are shared

River group	Rivers	Given to	What the other country may do
Eastern rivers	Ravi, Beas, Sutlej	India, for unrestricted use	Pakistan: only limited uses that the treaty lists
Western rivers	Indus, Jhelum, Chenab	Pakistan	India: limited uses, such as domestic use, some farming and run-of-river hydropower

• Run-of-river hydropower: electricity made from a river's natural flow.
• The water is not held back in a big storage dam.

• So it still flows on to Pakistan downstream.

• Geography trap: The Indus, Jhelum and Chenab flow through Indian territory first. Even so, they are the "western" rivers, and they went to Pakistan.

• Pakistan depends heavily on the treaty:
• The Indus system waters 80% of Pakistan's 16 million hectares of farmland [3].
• It meets 93% of Pakistan's total water use (PIB, 2025) [3].

Institutions and the dispute ladder

• Permanent Indus Commission: a joint body with one commissioner from each country. It shares data and deals with day-to-day issues [4].

• Graded dispute mechanism: the bigger the disagreement, the higher the body that handles it [4]. 1. "Question" → first goes to the Permanent Indus Commission. 2. "Difference" → goes to a Neutral Expert, usually a technical engineering specialist. 3. "Dispute" → goes to a Court of Arbitration. This is an ad hoc panel, meaning one set up only for that case.

• World Bank's role: "limited and procedural". It only appoints people to these posts when one or both countries ask it to [4]. It is not a judge or guarantor of the treaty.

Status: "in abeyance" and its conditions

• Trigger: On 22 April 2025, terrorists attacked Pahalgam and killed 26 civilians [2][3].
• India's decision: India declared the treaty "held in abeyance with immediate effect" [2][3].

• "In abeyance" means suspended for now. The treaty has not been formally ended.

• Condition for restoring it: Pakistan must "credibly and irrevocably abjure" its support for cross-border terrorism. This means giving it up for good, in a way that can be trusted [2][3].

• Effect for India: According to PIB, the suspension lets India use the western rivers (Jhelum, Chenab) more fully. This includes new water storage in J&K and Ladakh [3].

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional basis (treaty-making):
• Making treaties with foreign countries is a Union subject (Union List, Seventh Schedule).
• The Union government's executive power covers this area (Article 73).
• Parliament can make any law needed to carry out a treaty, even on a State List subject (Article 253).

• So the Union government signed the treaty, and the Union government placed it in abeyance in 2025.

• NCERT view: The treaty "has worked well" despite ups and downs in India-Pakistan relations.

• Record of survival: It continued through the wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999. This made it a textbook example of third-party mediation over a river shared across borders.
• Kishenganga and Ratle case (2016-2022):
• The projects: Kishenganga (330 MW, opened in 2018) and Ratle (850 MW, under construction) are Indian hydropower projects. Pakistan objected to their design [4][7].
• 2016: Pakistan asked for a Court of Arbitration. India asked for a Neutral Expert [4].
• December 2016: The World Bank paused both processes so the two countries could try to settle the matter themselves [4][8].
• March 2022: The World Bank restarted the process [4].
• October 2022: It appointed Michel Lino as Neutral Expert and Prof. Sean Murphy as Chairman of the Court of Arbitration [4][7].

• Why it matters: Two processes ran side by side on the same question. This is a central point of conflict over how the treaty's dispute system works.

• April 2025: After the Pahalgam attack, India put the treaty in abeyance [2][3]. This is the treaty's biggest break since 1960.

Don't confuse with

• Simla Agreement (1972): This deal makes Kashmir a bilateral issue, to be settled by India and Pakistan alone. The Indus Waters Treaty is different because it gives a third party (the World Bank) a procedural role.
• Karachi Agreement (27 July 1949): This was signed in Karachi by military representatives under UNCIP. It fixed the ceasefire line in J&K [5][6]. The Indus Waters Treaty was also signed in Karachi, but it was signed by heads of government in 1960, and it is about water, not borders.
• Nehru-Liaquat Pact (April 1950): an India-Pakistan agreement on protecting minorities, not on sharing rivers. Both belong to the "cooperation despite conflict" phase of 1947-1960.
• Abeyance vs termination: Abeyance means the treaty is suspended but still exists, and it can be restored if a condition is met. Termination would end the treaty for good. India chose abeyance [2][3].

Prelims Hooks

• Indus Waters Treaty: 19 September 1960, Karachi. Signed by Nehru and Ayub Khan, with the World Bank as a third signatory [4]. Mediation was started by World Bank President Eugene Black, and talks took nine years [4].
• Eastern rivers → India: Ravi, Beas, Sutlej. Western rivers → Pakistan: Indus, Jhelum, Chenab. A common trap is to swap the Chenab or the Sutlej.
• Dispute ladder: Question → Permanent Indus Commission. Difference → Neutral Expert. Dispute → Court of Arbitration [4].
• World Bank's role is "limited and procedural". It only appoints people when asked [4].
• Kishenganga (330 MW) and Ratle (850 MW): In October 2022, the World Bank appointed Michel Lino as Neutral Expert and Sean Murphy as Chairman of the Court of Arbitration [4][7].
• April 2025: The treaty was held "in abeyance" after the Pahalgam attack (22 April 2025, 26 civilians killed). It is suspended, not terminated [2][3].

Mains Points

• A model that is now under strain:
• The treaty survived the wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999. That made it a classic example of sharing water between hostile neighbours.
• It now faces three pressures:
  • two dispute processes running at the same time (Kishenganga/Ratle) [4]
  • changes in river flow caused by climate change
  • its use as leverage against terrorism since 2025 [2][3]

• Debate for GS-II: should India push to renegotiate the treaty, or keep it in abeyance until Pakistan meets the condition on terrorism?

• Water as leverage:

• Pakistan depends on the Indus system for 80% of its farmland and 93% of its water use [3]. This gives India strong leverage.
• Fuller use of the western rivers, including storage in J&K and Ladakh, would strengthen India's position [3].

• The trade-off: India's image as a responsible upstream country, and its own concerns as a downstream country on other rivers.

• Rivalry with cooperation (GS-I):

• Between 1947 and 1960, India and Pakistan fought over Kashmir.
• In the same years, they cooperated: they returned abducted women, signed the Nehru-Liaquat Pact and signed the Indus Waters Treaty.
• This shows that working, technical agreements can exist alongside political hostility. It is a useful point in any answer on India-Pakistan confidence-building measures (steps that help two rivals trust each other).

Related concepts

• Indo-Pakistan War of 1947-48
• UN resolution on Kashmir (1948)
• Karachi Agreement

Read more

• Pakistan I: Kashmir, the UN and the Indus Waters Treaty (1947-1960)