Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday described the signing of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as “one of the greatest strategic blunders in India’s history”.
The IWT governs the sharing of the Indus river system between the two countries. The treaty has been in the spotlight following the Centre’s move to keep it in abeyance after the Pahalgam attack.
“Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s signing of the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 stands as one of the greatest strategic blunders in India’s history,” Sarma posted on X. He alleged that despite India’s natural upper riparian advantage, Nehru, “under immense pressure from the American administration and the World Bank”, handed over more than 80 per cent of the Indus basin waters to Pakistan.
Sarma’s criticism follows that of Jammu and Kashmir’s former chief minister Omar Abdullah, who on Friday said the erstwhile state was never in favour of the IWT, calling it “the most unfair document to the people of J&K”.
Sarma pointed out that Pakistan annually receives 35 million acre-feet (MAF) of water under the treaty, while India receives 33 MAF.
Sarma hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the Pahalgam attack, including the decision to suspend the treaty. “Modi’s action marks the rise of a new, assertive India,” Sarma said.
Political analysts noted that blaming Nehru for the country’s longstanding issues has been a recurrent theme in the BJP, despite the party being in power since 2014.