Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources Nitin Gadkari announced on Thursday that India will block the flow of its share of water from the Indus rivers to Pakistan. The decision comes days after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 jawans were killed by a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad.
Gadkari tweeted that the water flowing to Pakistan from the Eastern rivers will be diverted to Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
"Our government has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab," Gadkari said in a series of tweets.
India and Pakistan share the waters of six rivers—Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960, India has more rights on the Eastern rivers—Ravi, Beas and Sutlej; while Pakistan has more rights on the Western rivers—Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.
After the Uri attack in 2016, New Delhi had said that India will review the Indus Waters Treaty. Eventually, the Centre had decided to quicken the water projects to arrest the unutilised water and the projects include Shahpur Kandi dam, Sutlej-Beas link in Punjab and Ujh Dam in Jammu and Kashmir.
The move is the latest in a series of steps taken by the government after the dastardly terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama. Just after the attack, the government scrapped Most Favoured Nation status granted to Pakistan.