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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading a multiparty delegation to Colombia, has claimed that the Indus Waters Treaty’s (IWT) spirit has been repeatedly betrayed over the years due to
terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid, who is part of another all-party delegation on Operation Sindoor
outreach mission, has said in Indonesia that the scrapping of Article 370 ended the long-standing problem of separatism in Jammu and Kashmir. Advertisement In the diplomatic outreach
following Operation Sindoor, the Modi government has formed seven multi-party delegations to inform different nations about Pakistan’s links to terrorism and India’s strong message of zero
tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Advertisement Interacting with members of Indonesian think tanks and academia as part of an all-party Indian parliamentary
delegation, Khurshid said, “Kashmir had a major problem for a long time. Much of that was reflected in the thinking of the government in an article called 370 of the Constitution, which
somehow gave the impression that it was separate from the rest of the country. But Article 370 was abrogated, and it was finally put to an end.” Article 370 of the Constitution accorded
special status to Jammu and Kashmir until it was revoked by the BJP-led government on August 5, 2019. After the abrogation, the state was bifurcated into Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Both
were turned into union territories. Khurshid, who is accompanying a multiparty delegation led by Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, also said the post-abrogation environment in Jammu
and Kashmir has yielded progress. He cited the 65 per cent voter turnout in subsequent polls and the formation of an elected government in the union territory. “Subsequently, there was an
election with 65 per cent participation. There’s an elected government in Kashmir today, and therefore, for people to want to undo everything that has the prosperity that has come to
Kashmir. It would not be advisable,” he added. Tharoor on Thursday (local time) said the Indus Waters Treaty was offered by India to Pakistan in the early 1960s in a “spirit of goodwill and
harmony” and accused that ”goodwill” has been repeatedly betrayed over the years due to terrorism sponsored by the neighbouring country. Speaking in Bogota, Colombia, Tharoor said, “The
Indus Waters Treaty was offered by India to Pakistan in the early 1960s in a spirit of goodwill and harmony. Those words occur in the preamble of the treaty; sadly, that goodwill has been
repeatedly betrayed by the terrorist actions of the last four decades.” “Even though we have had terrorism and war inflicted on us, the treaty has remained in place, but this time our
government has placed the treaty in abeyance, which means it is in effect suspended. Its operations are suspended until we get satisfactory indication from Pakistan that they’re prepared to
conduct themselves in that spirit of goodwill that is provided for in the preamble of the treaty,” he said. “We are very conscious that we have been a generous neighbour when it comes to the
operation of the treaty. We are in an upper riparian state. We have given Pakistan very generously the waters that they are entitled to under the treaty, and we have not even used all the
waters we are entitled to under the treaty. But the time for acting based on goodwill unilaterally is frankly no longer with us,” the Congress MP said. The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by
the World Bank and signed in 1960, governs the distribution of water from the Indus River system between India and Pakistan. The treaty has withstood multiple wars and diplomatic crises, but
recent tensions have prompted fresh discussions on its future. Reiterating India’s firm stance against terrorism, Tharoor said the country decided that the Pahalgam terror attack could not
go unpunished and launched strikes against terrorist infrastructure under Operation Sindoor. Addressing the media in Bogota, Tharoor expressed disappointment with the Colombian government
for offering condolences over the loss of lives in Pakistan instead of expressing solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, saying, “We were a little disappointed in the
reaction of the Colombian government, which apparently expressed heartfelt condolences on the loss of lives in Pakistan after the Indian strikes, rather than sympathising with the victims of
terrorism.” Advertisement