Indus Waters Treaty will continue to be in abeyance, say sources

NEW DELHI: There is no pre- or post-condition to the understanding concerning military action between India and Pakistan reached on Saturday and the Indus Waters Treaty will remain in abeyance, MEA sources said.

The DGMOs of India and Pakistan on Saturday agreed that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land and in the air and sea with effect from 1700 hours Indian Standard Time. The call was initiated by Pakistan.

India had taken a series of steps against Pakistan after Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists were killed. The steps taken over Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism included putting the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory.

The Treaty allocates the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan and the Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India. At the same time, the Treaty allows each country to allocate certain waters of the rivers to the other. The treaty gives India 20 per cent of the water from the Indus River System and the remaining 80 per cent to Pakistan.

At 3.30 pm today, the Director General of Military Operations of Pakistan called the Director General of Military Operations of India, and they agreed that both sides would stop all firing and military action on land, in the air, and at sea with effect from 5 pm today.

“Instructions have been given on both sides to give effect to the understanding,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters. The Director Generals of Military Operations will talk again on Monday afternoon.

India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in reply to the ghastly terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22. India launched strikes at terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan upped the ante with a series of unprovoked escalations which were effectively repelled by India. (ANI)