Uttam Kumar Sinha replies: A treaty can only be signed if the other party (in this case China) wants to have a one. China has not signed on the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of Watercourses Treaty. Beijing has shown reluctance to enter into any formal arrangement with its neighbouring countries on trans-boundary rivers. In the Mekong River Commission, it is an observer. With no formal arrangement, China has the latitude to use water as a trade-off or a bargaining tool. The water resource ministry of both the countries signed a MoU in 2002 on specific data and information sharing. However, India should continue to insist on water dialogue with China and raise the issue of rivers and flow concerns at various levels of interaction.

Uttam Kumar Sinha replies: After the partition in 1947 it was inevitable that the water sharing needed immediate attention. After 8-years of painstaking negotiations, the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) was signed in 1960. The Treaty was voluntarily accepted by the two sides as ‘fair and equitable’. The Treaty clearly lays out provisions and restrictions for the upper riparian and thus safeguards the lower riparian interest. India respects and values the Treaty and abides by it and Pakistan can seek the services of a neutral expert or court of arbitration on issues where it feels India is ‘not respecting’ the Treaty. India also considers the IWT as an important mechanism for regional cooperation. So, clearly there is no real value in renegotiation.

Pakistan in spite of all the noises it makes domestically about India ‘stealing waters’ or ‘waging water war’ will also not seek renegotiation. Pakistan can ‘talk’ about water ‘needs’ but cannot ‘negotiate’ about water ‘rights’. The IWT has settled it. But if Pakistan wants to negotiate, it would mean scrapping the IWT and formulating an entirely new one. It knows that it cannot get a better and generous treaty as the IWT. But India can be pushed to abrogate the IWT if Pakistan, for example, continues to abet terrorism. This will be a huge political decision based on consensus. However, Article VII of the Treaty, which deals with future co-operation, recognises the common interest of both sides in the optimum development of the rivers. This is the direction that Pakistan should move towards and work with India on it.