Indus RiverIndus RiverKristi Shaw- Discussion Leader“India and Pakistan can go on shouting on Kashmir for all time to come, but an early settlement on the Indus waters is essential for maintenance of peace in the sub-continent” –Anonymous Indian official“the rivers pay no attention to partitions; the Indus just keeps rolling along through Kashmir and India and Pakistan” –David LilienthalBackground A vast canal irrigation system was built within the Indus Basin under British rule inthe mid 1800’s to develop agricultural activities in the region. However when the independent states of India and Pakistan were created in 1947, this canal systembecame a major source of contention within the region. As a result, several hydroelectric generation and water storage and transport projects intended to serve a unified purpose were split (such as Bari Doab and Sutlej Valley Project) with headwater projects belonging to India and canals running to Pakistan. This caused discord in the region with an imminent threat of war in Kashmir, which was later resolved by the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. Physical CharacteristicsThe Indus River, originating at 17,000 feet above sea level in Tibet, is 1800 miles long and traverses Tibet past the Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir through Pakistan before emptying into the Arabian Sea. The drainage area, which extends into India, is 450,000 square miles and contributes to an average annual inflow of 175 million acre feet. The flow of the Indus fluctuates seasonally, with melting of Himalayan glaciers accounting for almost 90% of the water in the Upper Indus River Basin coming from remote glaciers in the Himalayas (Rizvi). Although most of the Indus Basin lies in a zone of deficient rainfall (<10 inches annually), abundant flow is present during the monsoon season (July-September), which accounts for 51% of the annual flow.Nearly 10% of the rainfall is lost by evaporation and nearly 41 million acre feet is lost by seepage from unlined canals, which results in waterlogging rendering the land useless for agriculture.Inter-Dominion Accord of 1948 The Inter-Dominion Accord of 1948 was a temporary agreement that required India to release sufficient waters to Pakistani regions in return for annual payments from the Pakistani government to India. Standstill Agreement of 1947As a result of the boundary delineation between Pakistan and India, Punjab was separated into East and West regions. A Punjab Partition Committee was established to resolve disputes regarding division of assets between the divided provinces. Both East and West Punjab agreed that “the position existent at the time of partition will not be disturbed and waters shall be divided equally.” However, in 1948, East Punjab stopped the flow of water to West Punjab stating absolute sovereignty. Flows were resumed when Pakistan supplied payment to India for administrative costs. Indus Waters TreatyThe Indus Waters Treaty is regarded as one of the few successful settlements of a transboundary water basin conflict. Although there was significant dialogue regarding historical right usage of water versus inappropriateness of using historical use to set future allocation, a compromise was reached by Pakistan andIndia in 1960. As a result, India was granted the three eastern tributaries (Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej) upon payment to Pakistan the “cost of replacement works” (62 million pounds) and Pakistan assumed the flow of the three western rivers (Indus,Jhelum, and Chenab). The World Bank and other international agencies provided $870 million to Pakistan and $200 million to India for to defray infrastructure costs. Other provisions of the treaty enabled construction of two additional dams in Pakistan (Mangla and Tarbela) and created new link canals and barrages to develop and sustain agricultural activities in Pakistan, such as the canals that provide water to western Rajasthan and Kalabagh desert.The Indus Waters Treaty was established to enable exploitation of the basin’s economic potential for optimal benefit of India and Pakistan. By constructing newdams and irrigation canals, the agricultural production in the Indus basin has increased by 33%. The Permanent Indus Commission was established by the treaty to exchange data of flow discharges and generally monitors implementation of the treaty.ConclusionThe lessons learned from the Indus River negotiations and agreements can be summarized as follows: riparian conflicts must recognize fresh-water diplomacy as a symbol for international relations, long-term economic optimization while maintaining integral unity of the basin should be revered, political climate is crucial in determining solutions, rational compromises should be made, decision makers must be brought into the process, there are advantages to negotiating on neutral ground, and although third party mediation was powerful, bilaterially negotiated solutions should not be ruled out.Questions for Discussion1) Although the border between Pakistan and India was incompatible with thepreviously operating irrigation canal system in the region, why was the boundary between Pakistan and India delineated the way it was? 2) In this settlement, the World Bank and other neutral party arbitrators were very instrumental in development of the Indus Water Treaty. Why do you suppose that this was more effective rather than negotiations initiated by the countries within the Indus Basin?3) Eugene Black, former president of the World Bank, asserted that the “Indus dispute could most realistically be solved if the functional aspects ofdisagreement were negotiated apart from political considerations.” How can this be achieved?Required Readings: Encyclopedia Britannica, Indus River History (http://kcm.co.kr/pakistan/StoryBook/ref/IndusWaterTreaty.html) Mehta, Jagat S., Opinion (India)-The Indus Water Treaty: A Case Study in the Resolution of an International River Basin Conflict, Natural Resources Forum, 1988 Newbill, Michael, Indus Waters Treaty-A History (http://www.stimson.org/cbm/sa/indus.htm) Supplementary Readings: Compton's Encyclopedia On-Line, Indus River (http://www.comptons.com/encyclopedia/ARTICLES/0075/00926720_A.html), 1998 Hashmi, Faraz., Indus River System Authority to Iron Out Differences (http://www.dawn.com/2001/01/27/top5.htm), January 2001 Hooker, Richard., Harappa and the Indus River (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCINDIA/HARAPPA.HTM), 1996 Indus Waters Treaty of