Water is sacrosanct and should remain so

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

The targeting of seawater desalination plant in Bahrain in March this year was a reprehensible act and entirely unjustified. Coming from a water deficient part of India myself, this drone attack carried special concern. The international community needs to unite in criticizing such actions, either in war or during peacetime.

As a country, India has suffered the consequences of wrongful utilization of trans boundary river waters by other riparians. However the most stark has been the case of the Indus Waters Treaty which was signed as a goodwill gesture in 1960 after considerable efforts facilitated by the World Bank.

Despite its highly restrictive clauses which impeded normal development activities, India stood by the treaty through many wars with Pakistan in 1965, 1971 and 1999 and the continuous terrorist attacks from across the border. Over the years, the local populations in India were witness to their own economic marginalization due to the water allocation formula under the Treaty.

Yet, when the terror attack killed 26 innocent people in India in April last year, it shocked the conscience of the entire population. It also fundamentally called into question the basis of the Indus Water Treaty which was already under a shaky foundation.

Blood and water cannot flow together. Water flows are sacrosanct and should remain so. The Treaty was put into abeyance. After all, there is no wrong time for a right decision.

(The writer is Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Bahrain since August 2023. The views expressed are personal.)