Blustering water threats

India's latest water warfare rhetoric is desperate, dangerous and delusional. India's Water Resources Minister CR Patil recently claimed that his government is "actively working" to ensure that "not a single drop of water" flows to Pakistan, following "directives" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This chest-thumping threat is both legally untenable and practically unenforceable, as Pakistan cannot be expected to quietly let most of its water be stolen.

As things stand, India can certainly create a nuisance, but it still can't completely block the rivers because it also lacks the dam capacity to do so. However, India can still play dirty tricks, and if there is one thing that Patil knows, it is playing dirty - he is one of the most notoriously corrupt members of Modi's cabinet. He was once a constable, but was sacked for running a liquor racket. Later, he headed a bank that went belly up after he defaulted on a loan worth 500 million Indian rupees. He was jailed for this, but was released after he paid back the loan. Later on, Patil was rewarded by the ruling BJP with several key posts, culminating in his current ministry.

Meanwhile, India has justified its water-related threats as being legal because it has been holding the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance since last year's military misadventures after the Pulwama attack. But the Permanent Court of Arbitration has already ruled that India can't do that, and could face serious consequences in case of following through on any water-related threat. Pakistan has reserved the right to retaliate militarily under international law, as blocking waterways is an act of war. Foreign Office has clearly warned that "any deliberate attempt to block water essential to Pakistan's survival and development would constitute an extremely grave act with far-reaching consequences, as stated at the top leadership level by Pakistan."

India has enough domestic issues to deal with that its leaders should not be picking pointless fights with Pakistan, unless, of course, they are resorting to Modi's tried and tested tactics of heating up the border whenever his regime makes headlines for the wrong reasons. Despite the firm grip that Modi-aligned oligarchs have on Indian media, the regime's incompetence and corruption are so remarkable that it still sometimes breaks through into the headlines. This has been one such week, with billion-dollar scams involving state governments, a nationwide exam grading scandal, and the Cockroach Janata Party movement all becoming sources of bad press for Modi and Friends. In this light, it is hardly surprising that India resorted to sabre-rattling to distract critics.