India to halt cross-border water flow Modi says as tensions with Pakistan continue to rise.
India will no longer allow its water to flow across international borders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced May 6, signalling a dramatic policy shift that experts say could have far-reaching consequences in South Asia, the BBC reports.
“Now, India’s water will flow for India’s benefit, it will be conserved for India’s benefit, and it will be used for India’s progress,” Modi said during a public address. He did not name neighbouring Pakistan directly, but the timing of the statement comes just two weeks after New Delhi suspended the Indus Waters Treaty—a landmark water-sharing agreement with Islamabad in place since 1960.
The treaty, brokered by the World Bank, has governed the use of six rivers shared by the two countries, granting India control over the eastern rivers and Pakistan rights to the western ones. Despite two wars and multiple skirmishes, the pact has long been viewed as a rare example of sustained cooperation between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
