Arjun Meghwal, Union Minister | Photo Credit: BCCL

New Delhi: In a significant move, India has stopped water of three eastern rivers flowing to Pakistan, Union Minister Arjun Mehghwal said in Rajasthan’s Bikaner on Sunday. The decision comes in the aftermath of the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama attack on February 14, in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) had claimed responsibility of the attack.

Speaking to reporters, Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Water Resources, said that 0.53 million acre-feet of eastern rivers which was flowing into Pakistan have been stopped. He said, “0.53 million acre-feet water has been stopped from going to Pakistan and has been stored. Whenever Rajasthan or Punjab needs it, that water can be used for drinking and irrigation purposes.”

The latest move by the Centre does not violate the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 as the water has been stopped of the three eastern rivers, namely Sutlej, Ravi and Beas, that India is entitled to use under the treaty.

After the dastardly Pulwama attack last month, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had announced that India has decided to stop the flow of its share of water to Pakistan from rivers under the Indus Water Treaty. As per the treaty, the waters of the western rivers, that is Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, will be used by Pakistan while those of the eastern rivers (Sutlej, Ravi and Beas) will be used by India.

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The share of water from the eastern rivers is around 33 million acres feet (MAF) that technically belongs to India. Nearly 95 percent of the water is used in the country following the construction of the main dams on the rivers, nearly 5 percent water or 1.6 MAF has been flowing to Pakistan for the last 60 years.

Last month, Gadkari had tweeted, "Under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Sri @narendramodi ji, Our Govt. has decided to stop our share of water which used to flow to Pakistan. We will divert water from Eastern rivers and supply it to our people in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab."

Ties between India and Pakistan deteriorated after the Pulwama attack, which was followed by an air strike by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at a JeM camp in Pakistan’s Balakot, in which several terrorists were killed. In retaliation, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) attempted to breach the Indian air space and target military establishments but were thwarted by IAF. In the dogfight, IAF’s MiG 21 Bison was downed by the PAF after it had shot down Pakistan’s F-16. IAF’s Wing Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by Pakistan but later released.