Why continue Indus Water Treaty if Pakistan doesn't honour its spirit: Gadkari
Slamming Pakistan over cross-border terrorism, Union minister Nitin Gadkari Monday asked what is the point of continuing the Indus Water Treaty if its spirit of mutual love, harmony and cordial relations is not being honoured by the neighbouring country. Addressing a public meeting at Phagwara, Gadkari said Pakistan should stop sponsoring terrorists, supporting terror outfits and sending terrorists into India, otherwise it would have to reel under shortage of water. Following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, the Union minister had said India had decided to "stop" the flow of its share of river water to Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty. Under the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of the three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas (eastern Rivers) averaging around 33 million acre feet (MAF), were allocated to India for exclusive use. The waters of western rivers -- Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab -- averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the treaty. Gadkari said the spirit behind the water treaty was "mutual love, harmony and cordial relations". "There is a limit to our restraint. If cross-border terrorism and the support to terror outfits and terrorists by Pakistan is not stopped, what is the point of the treaty and of giving water to Pakistan," he said. Gadkari said that India will divert its share of water to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan by stopping its flow to Pakistan. On February 14, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into a bus carrying CRPF personnel in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, killing 40 of them. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohhammed terror outfit claimed responsibility for the attack. Gadkari laid the foundation stone of a 2.5-km elevated bridge on the national highway 1 here. The bridge will be constructed at a cost of Rs 165 crore. The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation claimed that road and irrigation projects worth Rs one lakh crore were being implemented in Punjab. These included road projects worth Rs 60,000 crore and irrigation schemes worth Rs 40,000 crore, he said. He said Punjab had 1,739 km of national highways when the NDA government assumed office at the Centre in 2014 and the network has doubled since then. Earlier, he laid foundation stones of some road projects in Sri Anandpur Sahib. Addressing a public meeting in Sri Anandpur Sahib, Gadkari said that the six-lane national highway from Delhi to Beas would be extended up to Amritsar. PTI
