New Delhi (Sputnik): Pakistani officials of the Permanent Commission for Indus Waters on Monday warned New Delhi about the consequences of water aggression and said that if India stops the flow of water as agreed under the treaty, Pakistan will approach the International Court of Arbitration.
"The Ministry of Water and Power is reviewing India's measure to stop water from flowing into Pakistan. As per the Indus Water Treaty, India cannot stop water from flowing into Pakistan and if they do so then we will move the International Court for Arbitration", the unnamed officials said as quoted by Pakistan's news channel GeoTV.
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Moreover, officials added, India's Indus Water Commission had not informed Pakistan regarding the move to stop the flow of water.
"0.53 million acre-feet water has been stopped from going to Pakistan and has been stored. Whenever Rajasthan or Punjab needs it, that water can be used for drinking and irrigation purposes", Meghwal said while speaking to media on Sunday.
Arjun Meghwal claims that India has stopped water flowing into Pakistan.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) March 10, 2019
0. 53 million acre-feet water of Eastern River under Indus water treaty which was flowing into Pakistan has been stopped. pic.twitter.com/KCygGgUV94
The Indian government had been threatening to launch a water war against Pakistan since the 2016 Uri terrorist attack. As tensions escalated once again after a suicide terrorist attack that killed 40 Indian soldiers in the Pulwama district of Kashmir, the Indian government once again reiterated that it will stop the flow of water from three rivers that were part of the Indus Treaty. India has a positional advantage in controlling the flow of the Indus Basin Rivers, but due to lack of hydrological infrastructure, it has never used this weapon.
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The World Bank-brokered Indus Water Treaty has withstood many ebbs and lows of Indo-Pak ties, including three wars and a skirmish. India now feels the treaty is lop-sided, as it was allowed to use only 20 percent of the water that flows from the first three rivers of the Indus basin, while water from the other three rivers allocated to India flows freely into Pakistan.
