Indus Waters Treaty: India opens two gates at Baglihar Dam on Chenab river days after shutting them

The Indian government on Thursday opened two gates at the Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project Dam, built on the Chenab River in Ramban. The gates have reportedly been opened to manage the rising water levels caused due to the heavy rainfall in Jammu and Kashmir.

This comes after the centre had shut all the dam gates to regulate the water flow to Pakistan.

India has taken military as well as diplomatic steps to retaliate against Pakistan for its involvement in the Pahalgam attack on April 22 that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.


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Around 1:30 am on Wednesday, Indian armed forces executed a retaliatory strike, codenamed 'Operation Sindoor', dismantling nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

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The operation, carried out in a rapid 25-minute window between 1.05 am and 1.30 am, targeted terrorist infrastructure from where attacks against India have been planned and carried out, officials said. These sites were reportedly linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), two groups often blamed for carrying out terror attacks in India.

India's Indus diplomacy

India has also held the Indus Water treaty in abeyance. Chenab is also part of the treaty. The Indus river system consists of Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, whose usage rights were divided between India and Pakistan in the 1960 treaty. Pakistan's depends on these river system to supply irrigation for a majority of their agriculture.

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The Baglihar Dam, a key hydroelectric power project on the Chenab River, has been at the centre of past disputes between India and Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty framework.