Guwahati, Apr 26: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday criticised former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for signing the Indus Waters Treaty, calling it “one of the greatest strategic blunders” in India’s history. He welcomed the Union government’s decision to keep the treaty in abeyance, stating that it sends a strong message that India will not “reward terror and hostility with appeasement.”
The development comes after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam earlier this week, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists.
In a post on X, Sarma alleged that Nehru, under pressure from the American administration and the World Bank, conceded over 80 per cent of the Indus basin waters to Pakistan despite India’s upper riparian advantage. He stated that Pakistan gained full rights over the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers, while India was left with the eastern rivers—Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej.
According to Sarma, Pakistan was allocated 135 million acre-feet (MAF) of water annually, compared to India’s 33 MAF. He said India’s rights over the western rivers were limited to minor irrigation and run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects without significant storage capacity, impacting the water needs of Punjab, Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Sarma said that Nehru’s “misplaced obsession with international approval” came at the expense of India’s long-term national interests and weakened its strategic and agricultural strength.
Supporting the Narendra Modi government’s decision, Sarma said, “By initiating India’s withdrawal from the treaty, Modi has reclaimed India’s sovereign rights over its rivers, sending a clear message that India will no longer reward terror and hostility with appeasement.”
He further claimed that the decision would have a significant impact on Pakistan’s economy, where more than 75 per cent of agricultural activities depend on the Indus waters.
India officially informed Pakistan about the decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty. In a letter addressed to her Pakistani counterpart Syed Ali Murtaza, India’s Secretary of Water Resources, Debashree Mukherjee, stated that sustained cross-border terrorism had impeded India’s rights under the treaty.
