Indus Waters Treaty, 1960

The Indus Waters Treaty, 1960 is a water-sharing treaty between India and Pakistan for the Indus river system. It allocates the three eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, primarily to India, and the three western rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, primarily to Pakistan, while allowing specified limited uses by the other side. It also creates institutional and dispute-settlement mechanisms to implement the allocation.

Constitutional / legal basis

The legal basis is the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960, especially Article II on the Eastern Rivers, Article III on the Western Rivers, and Annexures C, D and E on India’s permitted agricultural, hydro-electric and storage uses on the Western Rivers; it is not a provision of the Constitution of India.

Key points

• The Treaty classifies Ravi, Beas and Sutlej as the Eastern Rivers, whose waters are available for the unrestricted use of India, subject to limited transitional and specified provisions in the Treaty.
• The Treaty classifies Indus, Jhelum and Chenab as the Western Rivers, whose waters India is obliged to let flow for Pakistan’s unrestricted use except for uses expressly permitted to India.
• India may use the Western Rivers for domestic use and non-consumptive use, as recognised by the Treaty.
• India may make limited agricultural use of the Western Rivers in accordance with the conditions laid down in Annexure C of the Treaty.
• India may generate hydro-electric power on the Western Rivers through projects conforming to the design and operational conditions of Annexure D, generally associated with non-consumptive/run-of-river use.
• India may store waters of the Western Rivers only within the categories and limits permitted by the Treaty, particularly under Annexure E.
• The Treaty establishes a Permanent Indus Commission for cooperation and information exchange, and provides a graded mechanism for dealing with questions, differences and disputes.

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