Reopening settled issues may spark tension: Mehbooba Mufti tells CM Omar

Srinagar, Nov 13: A day after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah claimed the Indus Water Treaty restricted J&K from realising its full hydel power potential, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti Wednesday said reopening settled issues would create tension and benefit the BJP.Abdullah on Tuesday said the treaty between India and Pakistan was restricting the Union Territory’s ability to harness its huge hydel power potential, primarily due to storage constraints.India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory to the pact that sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two sides on the use of waters of a number of cross-border rivers in J&K.Reacting to Abdullah’s comments, Mehbooba told reporters in Srinagar, “Jammu and Kashmir has suffered a lot in the last 75 years and witnessed many hardships. Many people were killed and properties were destroyed. J&K suffered losses because of the tension between India and Pakistan. The Indus Water Treaty is the only treaty which has remained in place despite the wars and tension.”While there is no doubt that J&K has suffered losses because of the treaty, “the BJP’s narrative for the last few years has been that it wants to make the Indus Water Treaty an issue”, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader said.”Omar (Abdullah) has said it has caused losses and we cannot generate more electricity. But we should also see whether the electricity we are generating is ours or not. We say we are suffering losses because we are not able to use more water and generate more electricity. I want to ask if the electricity that we are producing is ours?” she said.