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FOR more than sixty-five years, the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) has stood as one of the world’s renowned, most enduring and successful transboundary water-course division arrangements between two nation states.
Beyond its legal and international significance, it has also been the cornerstone of Pakistan’s water resources development.
The certainty and predictability of flows provided by the treaty enabled Pakistan to develop the Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS); the world’s largest contiguous irrigation system, comprising three major reservoirs, six barrages, twelve inter-river link canals and an extensive distribution network that irrigates nearly 35 million acres and supports more than 90 per cent of the country’s food production.
Pakistan’s hydropower system, irrigated agriculture and much of its economic development have evolved on the foundation of uninterrupted and predictable flows from the western rivers. The treaty has also contributed significantly in the overall strategic stability of South Asia.
