The India Pakistan water dispute
Scarcity of water is a huge problem to many countries of the world, especially those which are developing. The effects of environmental degradation and poor management of available water resource have made water one of the scarcest resources in many poor economies. As a result, there is a struggle for this resource and this sometimes leads to conflicts. The India-Pakistan water conflict is an example of conflict arising from struggle from scarce resources. Growing scarcity of water resources, increasing population and poor management of water resource in India and Pakistan has resulted in an increasing demand for water resources. The increasing scarcity of water leads to the desire for control of water resources, which in turn becomes a ground for breeding conflicts.
These conflicts are manifested at interstate and intra-state levels.
The need for water is accentuated by the fact that these countries are mainly agrarian economies. These conflicts have not only hampered their economic development at the national level, but the region, as a whole, is not fully benefiting from the process of globalization. However, the scarcity of water resources in some cases has been instrumental in developing cooperation among states. The Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan is one of the few examples, of the settlement of a major, international river basin conflict. However, the grievances of contracting parties, lead to the possibility that the present cooperation may turn into a future conflict.
This paper will focus on the India-Pakistan water dispute. The study will focus on water sharing treaty with Pakistan and India, with a comparative evaluation of past and future trends, followed by suggestions for sustainable future cooperation. Factors which have led to the dispute, status of disputes and the threat of transformation of the disputes to armed conflicts in future will be discussed in the paper. In addition, implications of the disputes amongst these states and how cooperation can resolve the disputes will also be discussed. Recommendations on how this dispute can be resolved, including using mediation, dialog, water conservation and others will also be briefly discussed. Finally, a short summary will highlight the discussed issues.
History of India-Pakistan water dispute
The water dispute between Pakistan and India began during the early 1960s.
However, the Indus Treaty between the two countries created an understanding of how water between the two countries would be shared. Six rivers that is; the Chenab, Indus, Beas, Sutlej, Ravi and Jhelum flow to Pakistan from India. This treaty divided three rivers for use by each country, and India had the Beas, Sutlej and Ravi. Pakistan had access to the Jhelum, Chenab and Indus. [1] During the 1990s, India constructed a hydro-electric plant in Doda district along Chenab River. This river is one of the tributaries of the Indus River and was designated by the Indus Treaty for use by Pakistan.
The Pakistani government, political and religious leaders saw this as a move by India to control these waters. This was seen to be in breach of the Indus Treaty and a threat to the Pakistani economy. There were several ways in which the Pakistani economy could be affected. These include reduction of water capacity for Pakistani peoples, which could affect agricultural and animal rearing activities. India also had political superiority by having the ability to flood Pakistan during war times through releasing excess water. These and other reasons increased tension between both countries in attempts to control this water resource.