India

PM Modi takes a strong stance on Indus Water treaty

Visiting poll-bound Punjab on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi avoided making any pronouncement on the Satluj Yamuna Link [SYL] canal row between Punjab and Haryana, but instead indicated that he would use river waters as leverage against Pakistan.

“Sutlej, Beas, Ravi — the waters in these rivers belong to India and our farmers. It is not being used in the fields of Pakistan but flowing into the sea through Pakistan. Now every drop of this water [of the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej] will be stopped and I will give that to the farmers of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. I am committed to this,” he said addressing a rally in Bathinda.

The Prime Minister’s strong remarks on the waters of the Indus system come a week before the Heart of Asia Conference is to be held in Amritsar on December3-4. It is to be attended by the Pakistan Prime Minister’s adviser on foreign affairs Sartaj Azizis.

Modi stated that the water of the three rivers were “going waste” in Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty.

Criticising the previous governments at the Centre, PM Modi said, ” Waters kept flowing to Pakistan , but successive governments kept sleeping on this issue and my farmer kept crying for the want of water.”

“If Punjab farmers get sufficient amount of water, they could produce ‘gold’ from the soil and could fill the coffers of the country,” he said.

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