According to a report by the Asian International News Service on June 29, due to heavy rainfall in the region causing water levels to rise, the gates of the Sarar Dam located on the Jinab River in the Rajasthani area of Kashmir, India, have been opened.
As previously reported by Observaor Network, an agreement to cease fire was reached between India and Pakistan on May 10, providing a brief respite for the situation in the region. However, Western media learned from sources within India and Pakistan that despite the ceasefire agreement, the crucial “India-Pakistan Water Treaty” remains suspended, essentially not being part of the peace negotiations.
The “India-Pakistan Water Treaty,” signed in 1960 under the lead of the World Bank, spanned nine years of negotiations. It was signed by India’s first Prime Minister Nehru and Pakistan’s President Ayub Khan, covering the use rights of the Indus River and its tributaries. Pakistan has been a major beneficiary of this treaty, receiving approximately 80% of the total water volume from these rivers.
Despite numerous wars and conflicts, the treaty has remained unbroken, serving as a “last line of defense” in India-Pakistan relations.
It is also described as a “rarely successful diplomatic case” between the two countries.
On April 22, near Pahalgam town in Kashmir-controlled areas, a shooting incident occurred. The Indian government announced a series of measures on the same day to degrade India-Pakistan relations, including suspending the implementation of the “India-Pakistan Water Treaty,” until Pakistan “candidly and irrevocably abandons support for cross-border terrorism.”
Subsequently, statements were released by the Pakistani Electricity Department and the Ministry of Water Resources, claiming that India’s action to halt the implementation of the treaty violated international consensus and was a long-planned “water war” against Pakistan.
On April 27, the government of Kashmir-controlled areas accused India of opening floodgates upstream of the Jheral River in Kashmir without prior notice, leading to rapid rises in downstream Pakistani areas and even triggering floods, which they described as “terrorism against the water supply system.”
On May 6, India shut down all gates of the Bhagrihar and Sarar hydroelectric power stations built upstream of the Jinab River, completely cutting off water supplies to Pakistan in retaliation for the deadly attack in Kashmir-controlled areas.
It wasn’t until the afternoon of May 8 that the Bhagrihar Hydropower Station reopened its gates, followed by the reopening of three gates at the Sarar Hydropower Station.
On May 10, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar said that Pakistan and India had reached an immediate ceasefire agreement. However, just before evening, explosions were heard in both Kashmir-controlled and Kashmir-administered areas, with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire. Both parties called for maintaining the agreement’s results.
It is worth noting that over the past decade, India has repeatedly threatened to “cut off water” to Pakistan.
In 2016, following an attack on an Indian military base in Uli Town, Kashmir, by militants, Indian Prime Minister Modi told officials, “blood and water cannot coexist.”
In 2019, following a suicide bombing in Kashmir that killed dozens of Indian security personnel, Indian government officials threatened to divert the flow of eastern rivers away from Pakistan.
