Indus Treaty historical mistake; Govt will prepare plan to utilise waters: Chouhan

New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said the government will make "short, mid and long term" plans to utilise waters, given to Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty, for providing irrigation facilities to farmers, especially of bordering states. He said keeping in abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty in 1960 is a "historic decision" in the interest of the country. The government suspended the decades-old treaty following the killing of 26 people, mostly tourists, in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22. Calling this 1960 treaty with Pakistan a "historical mistake" by the then government, Chouhan said it led to maximum water being used by the neighbouring country. "I want to share one important fact with our farmers. There was a historical mistake, and that was the Indus Water Treaty in 1960," he said. The minister said it was unfortunate that 80 per cent water of Indian rivers, including Indus, Chenab and Jhelum, went to Pakistan due to this treaty. After the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, he said the government has suspended this treaty. "Indian government will make short-term, mid-term and long-term plans to ensure each drop...of water is...utilised by our farmers," Chouhan said.

He said the suspension of this treaty is in the interest of the farmers' community. With the suspension of this treaty, the minister said farmers of bordering states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, as well as Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, will get more water for irrigation purposes. "This is a historic decision which is in the country's interest and also farmers' interest," he said.

Chouhan also asserted that the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has resolved to eliminate terrorism from the root. He also lauded Indian army for successful execution of 'Operation Sindoor'. On the intervening night of May 6-7, the Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan, including Bahawalpur, a stronghold of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke. The military strikes were carried out under 'Operation Sindoor' two weeks after the massacre of 26 civilians in Pahalgam.