World Bank Chief Ajay Banga's Big Statement On Indus Waters Treaty Suspension: 'No Role To Play'

The World Bank has distanced itself from the speculation that it will "step-in" after India suspended Indus Waters Treaty in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack. World Bank chief Ajay Banga said that the institution has "no role to play beyond (that of) a facilitator." Banga is on a visit to India and he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 8. He also met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"We have no role to play beyond a facilitator. There’s a lot of speculation in the media about how the World Bank will step in & fix the problem but it’s all bunk. The World Bank’s role is merely as a facilitator," said World Bank President, Ajay Banga, as per the Indian government.

India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty a day after the dastardly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which left 26 innocent civilians dead. The decision to suspend the water-sharing treaty was taken in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Modi.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then-Pakistan President Ayub Khan. It was brokered by the World Bank after heavy negotiations that went on for years. The treaty governed the distribution and use of the Indus river and its tributaries between India and Pakistan since 1960.

The Indus river system comprises the main river, the Indus, and its tributaries. The Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Jhelum and Chenab are its left-bank tributaries, while the Kabul river, a right-bank tributary, does not flow through Indian territory. The Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej are collectively referred to as the eastern rivers, while the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab are known as the western rivers. The water of this river system are crucial to both India and Pakistan.

At the time of Independence, the boundary demarcation between the two newly formed nations -- India and Pakistan -- cut through the Indus Basin, leaving India as the upper riparian and Pakistan as the lower riparian state.

Under the agreement, India got control over the three eastern rivers - Ravi, Beas and Sutlej; whereas Pakistan got control over the three western rivers Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.

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