External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday described the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 as an act of appeasement by the Congress government led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

During the discussion on Operation Sindoor in the Rajya Sabha, Jaishankar asserted that the government would build dams to check the flow of water to the western neighbour. Under the treaty, three eastern rivers — the Ravi, Beas and the Sutlej — have been allocated to India for unrestricted use, while three western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum and the Chenab — have been largely allocated to Pakistan with limited use permitted to India.

After the Pahalgam terror attack, the Narendra Modi government has put this treaty in abeyance. Jaishankar said the Indus Waters Treaty was a unique agreement since India had allowed its major rivers to flow to the next country "without any rights".

Jaishankar said Nehru put the interest of West Punjab in Pakistan above the interest of the farmers of Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. The minister said Nehru had told Parliament in November 1960 that Parliament should not judge the quantum of water and money being given to Pakistan.

"In 1960, he (Nehru) said we purchased peace. It was not a purchase of peace. It was a purchase of appeasement. Because within one year, the Prime Minister accepted that with Pakistan, there was no peace," Jaishankar said.

"That very treaty mentions in its preamble that it was done for goodwill and friendship. Since 1960, we have had neither peace nor goodwill. We had terrorism, wars. Such a treaty had to be dealt with, and this government dealt with it," he said.

Jaishankar said the treaty was aimed at appeasement. "The treaty has been corrected. It will be kept in abeyance until Pakistan gives up irrevocably its support for terrorism. Blood and water will not flow together…. This is the Modi government. Things are different. You will see the change on the ground," Jaishankar said.

Congress member Jairam Ramesh took to X to counter Jaishankar and said the comments on Nehru and the Indus Waters Treaty were a misrepresentation of fact.

"He deliberately did NOT mention that without the three Eastern Rivers (Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi) being exclusively with India — 1. The Bhakra Nangal dam complex, key to the Green Revolution, would not have become a reality. 2. The transformative and long Rajasthan Canal would not have been possible. 3. The Ravi-Beas link would not have been possible," Ramesh wrote.