Tarar calls for UN-led dialogue with India, defends Indus treaty

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Wednesday that Pakistan and India should resolve their disputes through dialogue and United Nations mechanisms rather than the use of force, and that India has no legal ground to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty on its own.

Addressing the Margalla Dialogue in Islamabad, Tarar said respect for international law, treaties and established global norms was necessary for lasting peace in South Asia. The shared history and geography of the two countries, he said, made settlement through agreements and multilateral institutions the workable path.

He said Pakistan had offered to facilitate an independent investigation into the recent escalation by any country or agency in the world. Military aggression was chosen instead, he said, and disregard for international mechanisms had affected people on both sides.

On the water treaty, Tarar described it as an agreement that has held for more than six decades through wars and tension. Facilitated by the World Bank, it sets out water distribution and a dispute process running through the Permanent Indus Commission, a Neutral Expert and a Court of Arbitration, he said.

Tarar said the treaty contains no provision for unilateral termination and requires the consent of both parties. India's announcement of suspension, he said, was contrary to the treaty's spirit and to the rights of a lower riparian state.

Wapda Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Muhammad Saeed told the same forum that Indian projects on the Chenab could let India regulate flows to Pakistan's disadvantage. He said India is building five major and 19 smaller projects on the river and pursuing three diversion schemes, and could raise its storage and flow-regulation capacity from 12 days to 50 days by 2030, with further storage by 2032. About 10 million people in Pakistan could be affected, he said.

Saeed said India cut the flow at Marala to 13,206 cusecs on December 12, when the first watering of the wheat crop was due, and has stopped sharing river-flow data with Pakistani commissioners. He called this a breach of the agreement and of human rights, and urged Pakistan to raise it internationally.

Former national security adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua told the dialogue that Islamabad should engage Kabul, directly or through Iran, China and Russia, to end the conflict with Afghanistan. He said the Taliban authorities are using the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as a proxy and that hostile intelligence agencies are active in Balochistan.

Brig Dr Rashid Wali Janjua said artificial intelligence and drone warfare would make future conflicts more dangerous, and that technological superiority is becoming decisive.