Ottawa, Aug 8 (IANS) While Pakistan continues to blame India for its water insecurity, Islamabad has itself been accused of exploiting its upstream advantage to the detriment of its own downstream provinces. Third-party reports and comments by Pakistan’s former minister for water and power indicate that poor planning, domestic mismanagement and corrupt practices lie at the heart of the country’s water crisis, a report has stated.
By threatening to ‘go to war’ with India over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), Pakistan risks further defunding the energy sector, damaging existing infrastructure, and edging closer to absolute water scarcity, a report in Canada-based Geopolitical Monitor mentioned.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been reiterating that the Indus Waters Treaty would remain in abeyance until Pakistan stops backing cross-border terrorism. India placed the IWT in abeyance following the heinous Pahalgam terror attack last year by Pakistan-backed terrorists that killed 26 innocent civilians.
“Pakistan has framed India’s treaty suspension as an aggressive act that justifies military retaliation, omitting the crucial context of the Pahalgam attack and the years of state-sponsored terrorism India has endured. During a conference held in Islamabad in late June, Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto alluded to Pakistan’s willingness to use nuclear weapons if India maintains the treaty’s suspension, which marks an alarming escalation and lack of interest in bilateral dialogue,” the report detailed.
“In the days following the conference, leaked documents indicate that Pakistan’s military initiated a coordinated media campaign to challenge India’s interpretation of the Indus water dispute and to stoke anti-India rhetoric. The strategy was allegedly produced by the Directorate General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), a wing of the Pakistani Armed Forces. The military has long been criticised for overstepping its role and trying to control civilian affairs, and these leaked documents further substantiate this theory,” it added.
According to the report, before India suspended the treaty, Pakistani officials had been making statements suggesting that water challenges stem from domestic mismanagement.
Back in 2015, it said, Pakistan’s then Minister for Water and Power, Khawaja Asif, said that the country had developed “a national habit of extravagance” which has led to resource shortage across water, gas, oil, and electricity sectors. He emphasised that the water challenges were largely internal to Pakistan, countering current Pakistani authorities’ narratives that blame India for water scarcity.
The report noted that soon after the signing of the IWT, Pakistan developed an “obsession” with dam construction, which significantly reduced the flow of fresh water and heightened the country’s vulnerability to climate change.
“This dam building has primarily served the energy needs of the Punjab region, long the centre of the military’s power base. As it appears the military has taken a leading role in Pakistan’s water affairs, it is not surprising that its heartland has emerged as a top priority. Provinces downstream of Punjab, such as Sindh Province, must grapple with adverse side effects due to rapid upstream dam building, yet the dams continue to be built,” it mentioned.
–IANS
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