Mainstream WeeklyLetter to the Readers, Mainstream, Sept 21, 2024
Over the past decade, the troubled relations between India and Pakistan have been at an impasse. Bilateral ties have remained frozen particularly since 2019 in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir and the retaliatory Balakot airstrikes. At that time when tensions ran high, a minister of the ruling Modi government threateningly called for water supplies from the Indian side to be blocked. Back-door secret talks between the two sides may have taken place since but at the official level, there seems to be no detente. Long-standing agreements now are being called into question due to domestic political reasons. Since January 2023 Indian government has written to Pakistan multiple times seeking revision of the Indus Water Treaty. Pakistan has responded by internationalising the matter and has approached the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague [[Won