UNITED NATIONS - Pakistan has stressed the need for transboundary water cooperation, citing the 1960 Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan -- a lower riparian state -- as an example of such successful cooperation that provides an effective mechanism to deal with issues related to shared water resources. “Within the South Asia region, population growth and increasing water demand, coupled with climate change impacts and ecosystem degradation, has made water cooperation even more imperative,” Hasan Nisar Jamy, Pakistan’s chief delegate, told the UN Water Conference, pointing that Pakistan shares surface and groundwater resources with two neighbouring countries. “The Indus Waters Treaty, which governs sharing of the Indus basin’s waters, is one example of such successful cooperation, which provides an effective mechanism for cooperation and management on water issues,” Jamy, who is Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, said in the general debate. Drawing attention to precedents and principles on the rights and obligations of both upper and lower riparians arising from bilateral and multilateral instruments, Pakistan’s chief delegate said, “These norms must be fully respected by the concerned Parties”. “ Unilateral actions can spiral into threats to regional stability and peace, and must be avoided, Jamy warned on the penultimate day of the threeday conference, the first in almost five decades taking place in New York to deal with water- related challenges. The Indus, the lifeblood of Pakistan, contains the largest contiguous irrigation system in the world, he said, adding that it accounts for food security for over 225 million people.
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