CHANDIGARH, May 22— Former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Thursday hit back at Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for blaming former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru over the signing of the Indus Waters Treaty, calling the criticism a display of “utter ignorance of historical facts.”
Chouhan had recently alleged that Nehru’s 1960 agreement with Pakistan amounted to injustice toward India. In response, Bansal, who once held the Union water resources portfolio, defended Nehru’s decision as a pragmatic solution shaped by the geopolitical and hydrological realities of the time.
“The treaty was signed under the mediation of the World Bank to ensure the optimal utilisation of the Indus basin. International norms don’t grant absolute rights to upper riparian states over international rivers,” Bansal said in a statement.
He clarified that the post-Partition canal infrastructure largely remained in Pakistan, while the headworks were under Indian control. “After a temporary agreement in 1947, India stopped water flow in 1948. However, limited storage capacity and the risk of flooding made it essential to seek a long-term solution,” he said.
The former minister said that the treaty granted India complete control over the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Satluj — while also providing non-consumptive rights over the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — for hydroelectricity generation, navigation and fisheries.
“Projects like Salal, Baglihar, and Kishanganga dams were executed under the treaty framework even before 2014. If there was any injustice, why did these projects move forward?” Bansal questioned.
He further noted that while the Bhakra Dam was among Nehru’s major accomplishments, a lack of adequate storage capacity has continued to allow surplus water to flow into Pakistan. “That’s not Nehru’s failure — it’s a continuing challenge that needs technical and political will to solve,” he said.
Turning the spotlight on current foreign policy and water security, Bansal criticized the Modi government for not taking adequate measures against China’s ongoing dam construction on the Brahmaputra River. “While the government rakes up the Indus Treaty for politics, it turns a blind eye to Chinese projects that pose a real and immediate risk to India,” he warned.
