List of Important International Water treaties of India

Name of Treaty

Significance of Treaty

Indus Water Treaty

1. The treaty was signed in Karachi on 19th September, 1960 by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the President of Pakistan Mohammad Ayub Khan under the arbitration of the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development).

2. A Permanent Indus Commission was set up as a bilateral commission to implement and manage the Treaty. The Commission solves disputes arising over water sharing.

3. Treaty envisages the sharing of water of Indus and its tributaries between India and Pakistan.

4. According to the treaty, Beas, Ravi and Sutlej are to be governed by India, while, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum are to be taken care by Pakistan.

4. This treaty also envisages that India can use only 20% of the total discharge of the Indus River System.

India-Bangladesh Treaty

1. The treaty for sharing water of Ganga at Farakka was signed by Indian Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed on 12 December 1996 in the Indian capital of New Delhi.

2. Joint River Commission (JRC) was formed for the effective management of the common river system.

India-Nepal Treaty

1. A Nepal-India Joint Committee on Water Resources (JCWR) was formed. A treaty on Integrated development of Mahakali was signed in 1996.

2. Pancheshwar Multi-Purpose Project on river Mahakali was centrepiece of Mahakali Treaty.

India-China Cooperation

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and China to share hydrological information such as rainfall, water level on Brahmaputra River.

India-Bhutan Cooperation

A Joint Expert Team (JET) was formed in 1979 to review the progress of scheme for the forecasting Network on rivers common to India and Bhutan.