The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 has been seen as an example of a successful transboundary water-sharing treaty between two hostile countries. The IWT withstood many tests, including wars (1965, 1971 and 1999), military tensions and regular verbal spats between India and Pakistan, whose leaders faced tough questions on engaging in the IWT negotiations and signing the treaty. However, recent changes in bilateral relations and especially the accelerating impact of climate change have meant that the IWT is feeling further heat. The article re-examines details of the political history of the water-sharing agreement between India and Pakistan to show how and why, after drawn-out negotiations, India and Pakistan finally agreed to sign the World Bank-mediated IWT in 1960. The article then discusses specifically that because a major share of the common waters passes through the conflict-sensitive region of Jammu and Kashmir, this has continued to contribute to fresh manifestations of water-related disputes and cooperation between India and Pakistan.
AbdullahS.M. (1965) ‘Kashmir, India and Pakistan’, Foreign Affairs, 43(3): 528–35.
2.
AhsanA. (2005) The Indus Saga: From Pataliputra to Partition. New Delhi: Roli Books.
3.
AlamU.Z. (2002) ‘Questioning the Water Wars Rationale: A Case Study of the Indus Waters Treaty’, The Geographical Journal, 168(4): 341–53.
4.
AliC.M. (1967) The Emergence of Pakistan. New York: Columbia University Press.
5.
AliI. (1988) The Punjab under Imperialism, 1885–1947. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
6.
AsooriP. (2020, October7) ‘A Look into the Conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir’. E-International Relations. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://www.e-ir.info/2020/10/07/a-look-into-the-conflict-between-india-and-pakistan-over-kashmir/
BeheraN.C. (2016) ‘The Kashmir Conflict: Multiple Fault Lines’, Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs, 3(1): 41–63.
9.
BhattacharyaN. (2018) The Great Agrarian Conquest: The Colonial Reshaping of a Rural World. Ranikhet: Permanent Black.
10.
BhattiM.N. & FarooqM. (2018) ‘Politics of Water Resource Development in Pre-Partition India’, Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 39(2): 23–48.
11.
BilkenbergL. (1998) India-Pakistan: The History of Unsolved Conflicts. (Volume I): An Analysis of Some Structural Factors. Odense: Odense University Press.
12.
Boundary Agreement (1963) The Boundary Agreement between China and Pakistan. URL (consulted 12April2021), from https://www.scribd.com/document/326874487/China-Pakistan-Boundary-Agreement-1963#:~:text=expand%20document%20information-,The%20document%20summarizes%20the%201963%20boundary%20agreement%20between%20China%20and,based%20on%20traditional%20customary%20lines
13.
CarterL. (2018) Towards a Ceasefire in Kashmir: British Official Reports from South Asia, 18September-31December1948. London: Routledge.
14.
ChesterL.P. (2009) Borders and Conflicts in South Asia: The Radcliffe Boundary Committee and Partition of Punjab. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
15.
DasguptaC. (2014) War and Diplomacy in Kashmir, 1947–1948. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
16.
GilmartinD. (2015) Blood and Water: The Indus River Basin in Modern India. Berkeley: University of California Press.
17.
GilmartinD. (2024, March20) ‘The Indus River’. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://oxfordre.com/asianhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277727-e-166
18.
Government of India. (1953) The Indus Basin Irrigation Water Dispute. New Delhi: Government of India Press.
19.
Government of India. (1980, April) ‘Jawaharlal Nehru and Water Resources Development. Some of His Speeches: A Compilation’. New Delhi: Government of India. Central Water Commission URL: http://www.cwc.gov.in/sites/default/files/jawaharlalnehruacompilationofspeecheswr.pdf
20.
Government of India. (2014) Indus Basin. New Delhi: Central Water Commission, Ministry of Water Resources. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://indiawris.gov.in/downloads/Indus%20Basin.pdf
21.
GulhatiN.D. (1973) Indus Water Treaty: An Exercise in International Mediation. Bombay: Allied Publishers.
22.
GundeviaY.D. (1984) Outside the Archives. New Delhi: Sangam Press.
23.
GuptaK.R. (2006) India-Pakistan Relations with Special Reference to Kashmir. Croxley Green: Atlantic Publishers.
24.
HabibI. (2014) The Agrarian System of Mughal India (1556–1707). Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
25.
HainesD. (2014) ‘Disputed Rivers: Sovereignty, Territory and State-Making in South Asia, 1948–1951’, Geopolitics, 19(3): 632–55.
26.
HainesD. (2017) Indus Divided: India, Pakistan and the River Basin Dispute. New Delhi: Penguin Publications.
27.
HussainI. (2018) Indus Water Treaty: Political and Legal Dimensions. Karachi: Oxford University Press.
28.
IWT (1960) The Indus Waters Treaty 1960. No. 6032, United Nations Treaty Series. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTs/Volume%20419/volume-419-I-6032-English.pdf
29.
JacobH. (2014) ‘The Secessionist Movement in Jammu and Kashmir and India-Pakistan Relations’, International Studies, 51(1–4): 35–55.
30.
JhaP.S. (2003) Kashmir 1947: The Origins of a Dispute. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
31.
KadirJ. (2022) ‘Keeping It in the Family: Understanding Kashmir as an Ancestral Property Dispute’. In MenskiW. & YousufM. (Eds), Kashmir after 2019: Completing the Partition (pp. 105–37). New Delhi: Sage Publications.
32.
KhanM.A. (2006 [1967]) Friends not Masters: A Political Autobiography. New York & Karachi: Oxford University Press.
33.
KhanR.A. (2013, July29) ‘Remembering Khatoon e Pakistan Fatima Jinnah’. Saudi Gazette. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/54429
34.
KumarA. (2022) ‘Legal Status of Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian Union: Reading from the Texts’. In MenskiW. & YousufM. (Eds), Kashmir after 2019: Completing the Partition (pp. 188–225). New Delhi: Sage Publications.
35.
KuxD. (2006) India-Pakistan Negotiations: Is Past still Prologue?Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press.
36.
LambA. (1997) Incomplete Partition: The Genesis of the Kashmir Dispute. Oxford, New York & Karachi: Oxford University Press.
37.
Lok Sabha (1960a, September9) ‘Lok Sabha. Indian Parliament, Questions and Answers. Oral Answers9September1960, 7431. https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1032726/1/02_XI_07-09-1960_p21_p23_s1170.pdf
38.
Lok Sabha (1960b, November22) ‘Lok Sabha, Indian Parliament, Volume XLVII. Twelfth Session’. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/55184/1/lsd_02_12_22-11-1960.pdf#search=null%20[1960%20TO%201969]%2002%20Lok%20Sabha%20Debates
39.
Lok Sabha (1960c, November25) ‘Lok Sabha, Indian Parliament. Volume XLVII. Twelfth Session’. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/55182/1/lsd_02_12_25-11-1960.pdf.
40.
Lok Sabha (1960d, November28) ‘Lok Sabha, Indian Parliament, Volume XLVIII. Twelfth Session’. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/55183/1/lsd_02_12_28-11-1960.pdf#search=null%20[1960%20TO%201969]%2002%20Lok%20Sabha%20Debates
41.
MaryamS. (2020) A Historical Appraisal of the Water Dispute in the Indus Basin, 1947–1960. PhD Thesis. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: University of Utara Malaya. https://etd.uum.edu.my/8713/2/s902361_01.pdf
42.
MichelA.A. (1967) The Indus Rivers: A Study of the Effects of Partition. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
43.
MosleyL. (1962) The Last Days of the British Raj. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
44.
NehruJ. (1960, September–October) Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. Series 2, Volume 63. URL. https://nehruselectedworks.com/pdfviewer.php?style=UI_Zine_Material.xml&subfolder=&doc=September_1960-October_1960-Series2-Vol63.pdf|5|733#page=567
45.
NehruJ. (1963, February to April) Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. Series 2 Volume 81. URL. https://nehruselectedworks.com/pdfviewer.php?style=UI_Zine_Material.xml&subfolder=&doc=February_1963-April_1963-Series2-Vol81.pdf|5|877#page=732
46.
PuriL. (2010) Across the LoC: Inside Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Gurugram: Penguin Viking.
47.
Radcliffe Commission (1950) Partition Proceedings. Volume, VI. Reports of the Members and Awards of the Chairman of the Boundary Commissions. Alipore: Superintendent Government Printing West Bengal Government Press.
48.
RaghavanP. (2020) Animosity at Bay: An Alternative History of the India-Pakistan Relationship, 1947–1952. Noida: HarperCollins.
49.
RaghavanS. (2010) War and Peace in Modern India. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
50.
RanjanA. (2020) ‘India-Pakistan Hydroelectricity Issues: “Questions” “Differences” and “Disputes”’, India Review, 19(5): 427–47.
51.
RanjanA. (2021) Contested Waters: India’s Transboundary River Water Disputes in South Asia. New Delhi: Routledge.
52.
SalmanM.A. & UpretyK. (2002) Conflict and Cooperation on South Asia’s International Rivers: A Legal Perspective. Washington DC: The World Bank.
53.
SchofieldV. (2003) Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War. London: I.B. Tauris.
54.
SiddiquiA.Q. (2023a, January27) ‘Indus Water Dispute: First Hearing Begins at The Hague’. Geo News TV. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://www.geo.tv/latest/467600-indus-water-dispute-first-hearing-begins-at-the-hague
55.
SiddiquiM. (2023b, 27January) ‘“Pak Actions Have Forced…”: India Issues Notice over Indus Waters Treaty’. NDTV. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-issues-notice-to-pakistan-seeking-modification-of-indus-water-treaty-cites-its-intransigence-sources-3728063
56.
SinghJ. (2024, 19September) ‘India Issues Formal Notice to Pakistan for Changes in Indus Water Treaty’. Business Standard. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/india-issues-formal-notice-to-pakistan-for-changes-in-indus-water-treaty-124091900515_1.html
57.
SinghS. (1997) Taming the Waters: The Political Economy of Large Dams in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
58.
SinhaU.K. (2020, September19) ‘The Nehruvian Imprint on Indus Waters Treaty’. Hindustan Times. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-nehruvian-imprint-on-indus-waters-treaty/story-Rc08OaxkXZA9nRRGwsZjSI.html
59.
SinhaU.K. (2021) Indus Basin Uninterrupted: A History of Territory & Politics from Alexander to Nehru. Gurugram: Vintage.
60.
SlaterJ. (2019, February22) ‘India Wants to Use Water as a Weapon against Pakistan. A 59-Year-Old Treaty Stands in the Way’. The Washington Post. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/02/22/indias-threats-pakistan-offer-hint-future-water-wars/
61.
SneddenC. (2015) Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. London: Hurst & Company.
62.
TalbotI. (2007) ‘The Punjab under Colonialism: Order and Transformation in British India’, Journal of Punjab Studies, 14(1): 3–10.
63.
World Bank Group (2010a [1960]) Negotiations for the Settlement of the Indus Waters Dispute. URL (consulted 30October2024), from chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://timeline.worldbank.org/content/dam/sites/timeline/docs/migrated/event25-indus-chron-1787263.pdf
64.
World Bank Group (2010b) [1960]) Announcement of the Indus Water Treaty Signing. URL (consulted 30October2024), from chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://timeline.worldbank.org/content/dam/sites/timeline/docs/migrated/event25-indus-summary-1787284.pdf
65.
YousufM. (2022) ‘Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy: Blocked Desires and the Search for an Honourable Exit’. In MenskiW. & YousufM. (Eds), Kashmir after 2019: Completing the Partition (pp. 265–97). New Delhi: Sage Publications.
66.
ZamanF. (2016, October31) ‘Historical Follies—Where Pakistan Went Wrong in Negotiating the Indus Waters Treaty’. Dawn. URL (consulted 30October2024), from https://www.dawn.com/news/1293408
