'Blood & water can't flow together': CR Patil echoes PM Modi’s stance on Indus Waters Treaty abeyance

Patil stressed that the ministry is focused on managing India’s water resources responsibly and advancing initiatives to better utilise river systems following the suspension of the IWT.

Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil on Friday reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that “blood and water cannot flow together,” underlining the significance of this principle in the context of the abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

Speaking at the ongoing Network18 Powering Bharat Summit, Patil highlighted the government’s commitment to ensuring water security while maintaining peace and stability.

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He stressed that the ministry is focused on managing India’s water resources responsibly and advancing initiatives to better utilise river systems following the suspension of the IWT.

“Our ministry is dedicated to implementing the vision set forth by PM Modi that ‘blood and water cannot flow together,’” Patil said, underlining the importance of safeguarding water resources in a manner that upholds national interests and harmony.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on May 15 that India will not lift its suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan until it addresses cross-border terrorism. His comment came after Pakistan - through a letter - conveyed its willingness to restart talks over the river water pact.

The letter was sent by the secretary of Pakistan's Ministry of Water Resources, Syed Ali Murtaza, to India’s Jal Shakti Ministry Secretary Debashree Mukherjee.

According to reports, the tone of Murtaza's letter, which arrived during Operation Sindoor, was not completely placatory, with Pakistan calling India's decision 'unilateral and illegal' and 'equivalent to an attack on the people of Pakistan and its economy'.

On river water security in India's Northeastern region which shares its border with China, Patil, without elaborating, said that all necessary steps are being taken under the leadership of PM Modi.

India had on April 23 put the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan in abeyance, as part of a series of diplomatic measures, after 26 civilians were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.

The move was unprecedented, as India had never touched the treaty even during major conflicts with Pakistan in the past.