An all-party parliamentary delegation led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor reached Colombia on Thursday. Here Tharoor spoke about the Indus Water Treaty suspended by India in Bogota, the capital of Colombia.
Shashi Tharoor said, "The Indus Water Treaty was a treaty that India signed with Pakistan in the early 1960s in a spirit of goodwill and harmony. These words (goodwill and harmony) are in the preamble of the treaty. Sadly, terrorist actions have repeatedly betrayed that goodwill in the last four decades."
Shashi Tharoor said that this treaty will remain suspended until a satisfactory signal is received from Pakistan.
He said, "Despite terrorism and war, this treaty has remained in place, but this time our government has suspended the treaty. This agreement will remain suspended until we get a satisfactory indication from Pakistan that they are ready to work in the spirit of goodwill, which has been provided in the preamble of the treaty."
We have been a generous neighbor
Tharoor said, "As far as the treaty is concerned, we have been a generous neighbor. We have very generously given Pakistan the water it is entitled to under the treaty. We have not even used the water that is our right under the treaty. It is no longer in our power to take unilateral action on the basis of goodwill."
Shashi Tharoor also responded to the statement given by Colombia on India's action against Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack, in which Colombia expressed condolences for the deaths in Pakistan.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "We are a little disappointed by the response of the Colombian government, which expressed condolences for the deaths in Pakistan following the Indian attacks, rather than sympathizing with the victims of terrorism."
Shashi Tharoor said, "We feel that when that statement was made, perhaps the situation was not fully understood."
Prakash Kumar Pandey