Delhi, May 24: India testified before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Friday wherein it exposed the disinformation spread by Pakistan regarding the abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty.
On the context of ‘Protecting Water in Armed Conflict – Protecting Civilian Lives’, Organized by the Permanent Mission of Slovenia, permanent representative of India to UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish underlined the Pakistan sponsored cross-border terrorism that seeks to hold hostage lives of civilians, religious harmony and economic prosperity.
Harish said that Islamabad violated its spirit by inflicting three wars and thousands of terror attacks on India yet.
Harish in his address to the UN Security Council Arria Formula meeting said, “We are constrained to respond to the disinformation being carried out by the delegation of Pakistan with regard to the Indus Waters Treaty. India has always acted in a responsible manner as an upper riparian state.
He told the UN meeting that India had entered into the Indus Waters Treaty 65 years ago in good faith.
In the wake of the horrific April 22 Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed, India had decided that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 would be held in abeyance with immediate effect until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism, he added.
Noting that the Preamble of the Treaty describes that it was concluded ‘in a spirit of good will and friendship’, Harish said.
Harish pointed out that India has formally asked Pakistan to discuss the modifications of the Treaty on several occasions in the past two years but Islamabad continues to reject these.
The Indian envoy during his address underlined the innumerable loss of valuable lives in terror attacks, mostly the recent one at Pahalgam where 26 killed barbarously by Pakistan-based terrorists.
“Pakistan’s obstructionist approach continues to prevent the exercise of full utilisation of legitimate rights by India,” he said.
Further, Harish said that in the past 65 years, far-reaching fundamental changes have taken place not only in terms of escalating security concerns through cross-border terror attacks but also growing requirements for producing clean energy, climate change and demographic change.
“Technology for dam infrastructure has transformed to ensure the safety and efficiency of operations and water use. Some of the old dams are facing serious safety concerns,” he said adding that Pakistan has continued to “consistently block” any changes to this infrastructure, and any modifications of the provisions, which is permissible under the Treaty.
He noted that in 2012, terrorists even attacked the Tulbul Navigation Project in Jammu and Kashmir.
“These cynical acts continue to endanger the safety of our projects and the lives of civilians.
“It is against this backdrop that India has finally announced that the treaty will be in abeyance until Pakistan, which is a global epicentre of terror, credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism. It is clear that it is Pakistan which remains in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty.”
Earlier in the day, Harish delivered a strong response to Pakistan at a UNSC open debate on ‘Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’, calling out Pakistan’s “grossly hypocritical” behaviour and asserting that a nation that makes no distinction between terrorists and civilians has no credentials to speak about protecting civilians.
After Pakistan’s Ambassador at the UN Asim Iftikhar Ahmad raked the Kashmir issue and spoke about the recent conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries, Harish slammed Pakistan’s baseless allegations and said India experienced decades of Pakistani-sponsored terrorist attacks across its borders citing the horrific 26/11 Mumbai Attack and attack on Indian Parliament.
