On Thursday, World Bank President Ajay Banga made it crystal clear that they would not interfere in the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan. Amid heated global interest in the suspension of the pact brought about by the lethal terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, Banga noted that the World Bank’s mandate is only to coordinate talks, not negotiations.
Banga’s comment was in reaction to media reports that the World Bank would take a more direct role in solving the long-standing contest between India and Pakistan over water distribution. “We can only be a facilitator and nothing else. Speculation in the media is running wild about how the World Bank will get in and fix the problem but it’s all bunk. The World Bank’s position is only a facilitator,” Banga said, as the news agency reported.
That while in India, Banga had also met Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, warming speculations that the World Bank might be involved in mediations. But the World Bank chief restated that the institution’s engagement was only on facilitating dialogue between the two countries.
While he is in India on an ongoing visit, Banga is attending meetings and events in Uttar Pradesh. He also met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Friday. The suspension of the treaty happened the day after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, resulting in the loss of lives of 26 lives. India urged Pakistan to take credible, irreversible actions to end its support for cross-border terrorism in retaliation for the attack.
The Indus Waters Treaty – concluded after nine years of negotiation with the help of the World Bank – regulates the share of six rivers between the two countries.
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