Why Nehru signed and funded the Indus Waters Treaty that favoured Pakistan
The Indus Waters Treaty gave Pakistan control over most of the Indus system waters, while subjecting India, the upper riparian, to severe restrictions
In 1960, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru signed the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan — a deal that gave away control of 80% of the Indus system waters to India’s western neighbour. What’s more, India even paid £62 million to Pakistan for building infrastructure to use that water. Why did Nehru agree to such a lopsided deal? Here’s the explanation in five sharp points:
1. Cold War pressure
At the time, the United States and Britain were deeply invested in stabilising Pakistan as a Cold War ally against Soviet influence. The World Bank (IBRD), pushed by the US and UK, was anything but neutral — it aligned with Western strategic priorities. The pressure on India to sign the Indus Waters Treaty and avoid a prolonged water conflict was immense.
2. Fear of international isolation
Refusing a treaty risked India being painted as an aggressive, obstructive power, jeopardising its relations with Western powers and access to vital international loans, grants, and World Bank funding. Newly independent and economically fragile, India couldn’t afford diplomatic and economic isolation or the risk of another confrontation with Pakistan.
3. India’s idealistic vision of peace
Nehru saw rivers as common natural resources meant for the collective good of humanity. India’s foreign policy establishment in the 1950s was also driven by a moralist, idealist, and anti-imperialist worldview. Hard-nosed realpolitik was then seen as an imperialist residue. This sounds naïve now — but within the Gandhian-Nehruvian moral framework, it was entirely consistent.