Indus Waters and the 1960 Treaty Between India and Pakistan

Abstract

The internationally shared river Indus and its five main tributaries rise in the Himalaya, carry a very large flow seasonally and have served as a cradle for one of the ancient civilizations of the world. The river basin supports the largest irrigated agricultural area and can be viewed as the birth-place of the art and science of irrigation. This chapter, while tracing the history of irrigation in the Indus, also lists the politically profound changes that engulfed this region and shaped the destiny of one of the most densely populated and agriculturally productive regions in the world. In particular, the chapter focuses the readers’ attention the tumultuous developments of the past 60 years, the conflicts around the Indus waters intricately woven with the political conflicts, partition of India, the much acclaimed Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 between the two successor countries, and how the Treaty has been worked thus far. It tries to capture the present-day events and project the author’s perceptions for the future.