International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2024

 

 

Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Mansi Goyal, Madhumita Dutta, Fazlul Haq and Bryan Mark

 

The Indus Waters Treaty, a 1960 agreement between India and Pakistan to resolve the issue of water allocation, allocated tributaries of the Indus River to the two countries and avoided the outbreak of war over water disputes. The treaty is considered a model transboundary river agreement as it not only resolved the dispute at the time, but also provided a mechanism for resolving problems that may arise in the future. However, the treaty also has limitations, such as not addressing factors such as groundwater use, the effects of climate change, population growth and the possibility of unsustainable environmental impacts during implementation. In addition, the treaty was signed and implemented in a way that ignored sub-national level conflicts and the socio-cultural experiences of local communities with the river, which could lead to new tensions and conflicts. With global climate change and changes in the regional political environment, the stability and adaptability of the treaty is challenged and will need to be continuously adapted and developed to cope with future uncertainties.