International Water Law In Settling The Water Conflicts Between India And Pakistan

The water conflict between India and Pakistan originated from the conflicts among the provinces of British India before the partition of India and Pakistan.After the partition of India and Pakistan,it became more and more serious until 1960,when the Indus Waters Treaty was signed under the mediation of the World Bank.After the signing of the treaty,Pakistan has obtained the right to use the West three rivers in the upper reaches of the Indus River,and India has obtained the right to use the East three rivers.India has guaranteed that the East three rivers will not interrupt the water supply to Pakistan if Pakistan has not found an alternative water source.The treaty allocates 80% of the water to Pakistan and 20% to India.The two sides split the water by building water projects.However,Pakistan was worried about India’s construction of dams and hydropower stations on the West River.The two sides later signed annex D,which allowed India to build water facilities on the West River.However,with the population growth and economic development of India and Pakistan,coupled with the impact of climate change,as well as the continuous conflict in Kashmir,the water conflict is becoming more and more serious.India has built more and more water facilities and threatened to "not allow a drop of water to flow into Pakistan".Sometimes,India also uses its upstream advantages to open sluice gates to release water,causing floods in Pakistan.The water conflict between India and Pakistan has intensified to the point that the World Bank can’t coordinate,sometimes the case needs to be sued to the International Court of justice in the Hague.Although the above-mentioned conflicts do not exclude the political and military conflicts between the two countries,the institutional reason of the Indus Water Treaty is the fundamental reason.With the development of history,international water law has made great progress,while the Indus Water Treaty is far behind the times.The concept of comprehensive governance of river basin,which is a scientific concept definition,has been put forward in the theoretical circle of international water law,which is in line with the natural state and hydrological law of rivers;the theory of water rights in international water law has developed from the theory of absolute territorial sovereignty and absolute territorial integrity to the theory of limited sovereignty,and the academic community has initially advocated the theory of community of interests;the basic principles of international water law have also been increasingly improved,including: the principles of sovereignty,fair and reasonable utilization,no major harm,maintenance and protection of water resources and their ecosystems,international cooperation,free navigation,and compensation;the mechanisms of international water law are also increasingly improved,including implementation mechanism,monitoring mechanism,conflict resolution mechanism,joint committee mechanism,adaptation mechanism,self-implementation mechanism,etc.Compared with the basic theory and practice of international water law,the Indus Water Treaty has many problems,including the concept,the form of the treaty,the basic theory of international water rights,basic principles and mechanisms,which need to be improved.In the light of international water law,the treaty shall be improved from the following aspects: First,the concept of the Indus River Basin shall be adopted in order to conform to the laws of natural and Hydrological Sciences.Second,multilateral treaties shall be signed in terms of the form of the treaty.China and Afghanistan,the upstream countries of the Indus River,shall join the treaty.Third,according to the theory of international water rights,it shall be improved based on the theory of limited sovereignty and assisted by the theory of community of interests.It is beneficial for the countries in the basin to carry out more in-depth cooperative governance and avoid confrontation.Fourth,it is necessary to carry out the protection,preservation and conservation of the ecosystem in the Indus River Basin.The countries in the basin shall cooperate to govern the Thar desert,transboundary aquifers,water pollution and glaciers,and vigorously carry out water saving.Fifth,various mechanisms shall be established or improved.The basic contents of international cooperation principles shall be defined,and the Indus River Basin Commission shall be set up with decision-making organs,executive agencies,monitoring agencies,evaluation and claim settlement institutions,and dispute settlement institutions.International cooperation mechanisms,decision-making mechanisms,implementation mechanisms,monitoring mechanisms,evaluation mechanisms,compensation mechanisms,and dispute resolution mechanisms shall be improved accordingly.