New Delhi [India], May 19 : Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday hailed the Indian Armed Forces for Operation Sindoor's success and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for suspending the Indus Water Treaty, stating that it was an injustice to Indian farmers.
The minister said that the abeyance of the Indus Water Treaty will greatly benefit the farmers of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, and some parts of Himachal Pradesh.
Chouhan interacted with various farmer groups from across the country today and took their suggestions on the treaty.
Earlier today he addressed a key Government Farmers Meeting on the Indus Water Treaty in Abeyance.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, Union Minister Chouhan said, "I thank the PM for suspending the Indus Water Treaty and ending the historical injustice. This treaty was signed in 1960 by Jawaharlal Nehru. More than 80 per cent of the Indus water was given to Pakistan. We gave them money and water. What did Pakistan give us in return? Providing water to Pakistan is unjust to Indian farmers.
"Now, the water of the Indus will benefit the farmers of different states of our country. We will work in that direction. Water and blood cannot flow together. Terror and cricket cannot go together. The nation's resolve is to uproot terrorism," the minister said.
Addressing the gathering, Chouhan said, "PM gave a free hand to the armed forces. The armed forces decided that this is India, we will not kill everyone. So, terrorists and their camps were targeted. All terror sites were destroyed. We didn't attack Pakistan directly; our fight was against terrorists, but Pakistan didn't accept this. It was started by Pakistan. They thought that would scare India with drones and missiles of Turkiye and China. We are proud of our armed forces, I bow before the valour.
He said that the Indian armed forces took down Pakistan's drones and missiles like toys.
"Children in Punjab and other states are playing with their debris. Pakistan bent its knees within three days. But decisive decisions were made. PM decided that blood and water can't flow together. A historic decision was made, the Indus Water Treaty was suspended. This is not ordinary," he further said.
Despite reaching an agreement of cessation of hostilities, the Indian government maintains its stance on the Indus Water Treaty which is still in abeyance. The treaty was suspended following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
The Indus system comprises of main Indus River, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small share for China and Afghanistan.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas ( Eastern Rivers) averaging around 33 million acre feet ( MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use.
The waters of Western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty.
India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through run of the river(RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is unrestricted.
To utilize the waters of the Eastern rivers which have been allocated to India for exclusive use, India has constructed Bhakra Dam on Satluj, Pong and Pandoh Dam on Beas and Thein (Ranjitsagar) on Ravi.
These storage works, together with other works like Beas-Sutlej Link, Madhopur-Beas Link, Indira Gandhi Nahar Project etc has helped India utilize most of the waters of waters of Eastern rivers.