At the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Parliamentary conclave on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed out that ex-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had "acknowledged" that the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan had no concrete value addition for India, sources said.
PM Modi condemned Nehru for what he called a "double partition" of the nation—first by the Radcliffe Line and second through the treaty, which gave 80 percent of the river's water to Pakistan. He also termed the agreement as being against Indian farmers.
Nehru divided the nation once and then again. Through the Indus Water Treaty, 80% of water was allocated to Pakistan. Afterwards, through his secretary, Nehru confessed that he had made a wrong decision, as it did not bring any good," said PM Modi, according to sources.
BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was at the meeting, criticized Nehru for having signed the treaty without asking Parliament for its approval, terming it a betrayal of the country and its farmers.
"Nationalism has been betrayed. If he (Jawaharlal Nehru) was the prime minister in a democracy, he would have accepted the approval of the Parliament for this. In the absence of the confidence of the cabinet and the Parliament, he traveled to Pakistan and returned single-handedly after signing the treaty. This is betrayal with our farmers," Pal said to ANI.
Echoing the same, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned the Nehru government for sending "Rs 80 crore to Pakistan" under the treaty.
"Prime Minister has proudly said the facts. Nehru ji didn't even take cabinet consent or discuss it before signing the treaty, but also gave Rs 80 crore to them. Whenever a treaty is signed, it happens only after there is discussion in the Parliament," Prasad expressed.
India on August 14 rejected the newly issued award of the Hague-based Court of Arbitration under the Indus Waters Treaty, questioning the court's jurisdiction, legitimacy, and authority.
"India has never recognised the legality, legitimacy, or competence of the so-called Court of Arbitration. Its rulings are thus without jurisdiction, lack legal standing, and are not applicable to India's rights of utilisation of waters," Union Minister Jaiswal asserted in a weekly media briefing reacting to ANI.
In the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April, during which 26 people lost their lives, India, exercising its sovereign rights under international law, has put on hold the Indus Waters Treaty until Pakistan credibly and irreversibly stops its support for cross-border terrorism.
The Indus Waters Treaty in 1960, resulting from nine years of negotiation with the facilitation of the World Bank, allocates the western rivers of the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab to Pakistan, and the eastern rivers of the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej to India.
During the same NDA convention, PM Modi also launched the alliance's Vice Presidential candidate, CP Radhakrishnan, calling him an OBC grassroots leader.
"He (Radhakrishnan) is an OBC community grassroots leader, plain in nature, and does not 'play games' in politics," PM Modi is quoted as saying by sources.
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