New Delhi [India], May 8 : Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for cancelling the discriminatory clause of the Indus Water Treaty and said that this decision will "directly benefit farmers" in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
"We thank the Prime Minister for cancelling the discriminatory clause of the Indus Water Treaty, under which 80 per cent of water went to Pakistan and only 20 per cent remained with India. This decision will directly benefit farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh... they will receive more water for irrigation, cultivable land will increase and hydropower projects will provide cheaper and more reliable electricity," Chouhan said, addressing the media in the national capital.
He further said that all 16,000 ICAR's Krishi Vigyan Kendra scientists will be deployed in the field.
"They will form teams of four and, along with officials from the state agricultural departments and the Central government and progressive farmers, they will visit three locations daily for 15 days this Kharif season. They will engage directly with farmers to promote the use of quality seeds, climate-resilient crop varieties and best agricultural practices... This is a historic step to strengthen the connection between lab and land," he added.
India has taken a slew of measures, including putting the Indus Water Treaty in abeyance to a send a strong message to Pakistan for its support to cross-border terrorism after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Tensions have risen between India and Pakistan following Pahalgam terror attack in which 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen were killed. The government has said that perpetrators will face severe punishment.
India decided to hold the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.
The Treaty allocates the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan and the Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India. At the same time, the Treaty allows each country certain uses of the rivers allocated to the other. The treaty gives India 20 per cent of the water from the Indus River System and the rest 80 per cent to Pakistan.
On Wednesday morning, the Indian Armed Forces targeted nine locations in deep areas of Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) under the Operation Sindoor. They launched strikes on several terrorist camps in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.