The Indus Waters Treaty: 60 Years of Transboundary Hydro-Diplomacy

## The Geopolitics of Partition

When the British partitioned British India in 1947, the newly drawn international boundary cleaved the Indus River basin in two: the upper headwaters fell in India, while the extensive downstream gravity-flow irrigation canal networks remained in Pakistan.

### The 1960 World Bank Agreement
Brokered by the World Bank, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan signed the **Indus Waters Treaty** in Karachi on September 19, 1960.

Under this historic treaty:
* **The Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej):** Allocated for unrestricted use by India.
* **The Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab):** Allocated primarily to Pakistan, with India retaining conditional rights for run-of-the-river hydroelectric generation.

Despite three major wars between the nations since signing, the treaty has survived uninterrupted for over six decades, serving as the world's most enduring example of transboundary hydro-diplomacy.