Public Talk was organised by Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, (ISSI) as part of its Distinguished Lecture Series on December 14, 2016 on “Pakistan-India: Avoiding a Water War“. The guest speaker at the occasion was Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi, a leading lawyer and former Federal Law Minister who spoke extensively on the subject.
While welcoming the speaker and guests, Chairman Board of Governors, ISSI, Ambassador Khalid Mahmood highlighted the importance of the topic and said that ISSI could not have found a better expert than Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi to speak on the subject. Indus Water Treaty (IWT) which withstood all ups and downs of the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan including wars is being threatened to be scraped by India. Though the reasons for creating this hype by India could be its own internal political dynamics, but Pakistan on its part cannot ignore the statements emanating from New Delhi. He went on to explain the series of events that led to the point where Pakistan had to warn India that revocation of Indus Water Treaty would be considered as an act of war. He also explained that the Indus Water Treaty does not allow Pakistan or India to cancel or revoke the treaty unilaterally. Article 12(4) of the treaty clearly mentions that the termination of the treaty is only possible if both India and Pakistan draft a treaty in this regard and then ratify it.
