India and Pakistan likely to fight a war over water in future: Cameron Munter

ISLAMABAD — Former US envoy to Pakistan Cameron Munter on Wednesday said that in his opinion, India and Pakistan are likely to fight a war in future over sharing of water resources.

The former US ambassador was addressing a conference in Islamabad, titled “Global Strategic Threat & Response”.

Munter said that in his capacity as a former US envoy, he appraised his country about the issues faced by Pakistan.

He said that Pakistan needs to refocus its economy on technology instead of having heavy reliance on the textile industry. “Throughout the world, the profits from textile products are declining,” said Munter.

Munter said that Pakistani youth need to gain expertise in software and information technology.

The former US envoy’s statements come in the backdrop of foreign media reports that India will no longer let its share of water flow into Pakistan from December.

India is planning to stop two TMCs of water from the Ujh River, which is a tributary of the Ravi River that flows through the Kathua district in the Indian part of Kashmir.

Basing the news on a source, an Indian media outlet claimed that a technical report has been prepared on it and is awaiting an official response to go ahead.

Last year, Indian Union Minister for Transport and Water Resources Nitin Gadkari stated that the government was planning to build three dams in Uttarakhand to stop India’s unused share of river water from flowing to Pakistan.

The Indus Waters Treaty, signed in 1960, gives India control over the three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) of the Indus basin while it gives Pakistan authority over the three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab).

The treaty also guaranteed 10 years of uninterrupted water supply, during this period Pakistan was to build dams. Pakistan successfully built the Warsak, Mangla and Tarbela dams.