Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parliamentary meeting on Tuesday, strongly criticised former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for signing the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan in 1960, calling it an “anti-farmer” decision that brought no benefit to India.
According to sources, Modi said Nehru had effectively “partitioned the country twice” — once through the Radcliffe Line and again through the treaty, which allocated 80 percent of the Indus basin waters to Pakistan. He added that even Nehru, through his secretary, later admitted the pact was a mistake.
BJP MPs echoed the Prime Minister’s remarks. Jagdambika Pal termed the treaty a “betrayal” of farmers, stressing that Nehru should have sought Parliament’s approval before signing it. Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Nehru had not only bypassed the Cabinet and Parliament but also gave ₹80 crore to Pakistan during the agreement.
The sharp remarks come days after India rejected a ruling by the Hague-based Court of Arbitration on the IWT, saying it lacked legitimacy and jurisdiction. India has also kept the treaty in abeyance following the April terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 people.
Signed in 1960 with World Bank’s mediation, the treaty allocated the Western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan and the Eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India.
At the same NDA meeting, PM Modi also introduced the alliance’s Vice-Presidential candidate, CP Radhakrishan, describing him as a grassroots OBC leader with a simple, transparent style of politics.