World Bank Clarifies Role Amid India-Pakistan Indus Waters Treaty Dispute

On Thursday, World Bank president Ajay Banga said there would be no role for the World Bank in the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, after the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

Ajay Banga said the World Bank is a facilitator with a limited role and it would not intervene to resolve the dispute.

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“We have no role to play beyond a facilitator. There’s a lot of speculation in the media about how the World Bank will step in and fix the problem but it’s all bunk. The World Bank’s role is merely as a facilitator,” Banga said, according to a statement from the Press Information Bureau.

Banga had previously met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi which caused speculation that the World Bank would get involved. However, Banga said, "We are not involved. It's not in the bank's nature."

World Bank chief Ajay Banga on a day-long visit to Uttar Pradesh, is attending a series of meetings and engagements in Lucknow and Barabanki. On Friday he met with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the state capital.

India puts Indus Waters Treaty on hold

India suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty one day after the deadly attack, asking for credible and irreversible accountability on the part of Pakistan to stop supporting cross border terrorism, after 26 people were killed in Pahalgam.

The agreement concerns the allocation of the waters of six different rivers, and was finalised after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan, with the World Bank's assistance. According to the treaty, the rivers in the west (Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab) are governed by Pakistan while the rivers in the east (Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej) are regulated by India. According to the treaty, 20% of the waters of the western rivers are available to India.

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Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Thursday said that India has tried unsuccessfully for more than two years to get proper discussions on the treaty, but Pakistan has not engaged.

“Pakistan has repeatedly created legal hurdles, preventing India from exercising its rights under the treaty,” Misri said at a press briefing. “Despite multiple provocations, including wars, India has upheld the treaty for 65 years. But Pakistan’s refusal to cooperate left us with no choice.”

Misri noted that Pakistan also ignored India's formal request for discussions and this showed that India was justified in suspending the treaty.

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