Sixth meeting of the Steering Committee on the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960

Tags: Summits National News

The sixth meeting of the Steering Committee on matters relating to the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 was held in New Delhi on 17 April.

An Overview of the News

• The purpose of the meeting was to take stock of the ongoing amendment process of the Indus Water Treaty.

• The meeting was presided over by Secretary, Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Pankaj Kumar.

About Indus Water Treaty (IWT)

• The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, arranged and negotiated by the World Bank, to utilise the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries.

• The treaty was signed in Karachi on 19 September 1960by the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then Pakistani President Ayub Khan.

• The treaty gives control over the waters of three "eastern rivers' ' – the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej with an average annual flow of 41 billion m3 (33 million acre feet)– while controlling the waters of all three. The "Western Rivers" – the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum, with an average annual flow of 99 billion cubic metres – flow to Pakistan.

• India has about 20% of the total water carried by the Indus system while Pakistan has 80%.

• The treaty allows India to use the waters of the western river for limited irrigation use and unlimited non-consumptive use for applications such as power generation, navigation, floating of assets, fisheries, etc.