ISLAMABAD:
The federal government agreed on Sunday to open dialogue with the Sindh government to address the deepening controversy over a proposed canal project on Indus river that sharply divided allies in the ruling coalition.
Amid rising political tensions over the controversial canal project, the Centre and Sindh kicked off talks when Adviser to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah and Sindh’s Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon talked by the telephone in a bid to ease the rift, and find a common ground.
Both sides agreed that the issue should be resolved through consultation rather than confrontation. Sana said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif had instructed that the Centre should take Sindh’s concerns seriously and begin dialogue.
On February 15, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir had inaugurated an ambitious agriculture initiative to irrigate barren land in Punjab’s Cholistan area.
The PPP – a major ally of the PML-N in the federal government – has been expressing serious reservations over the plan to draw six new canals from the Indus river to meet the irrigation needs of the Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI) in the Cholistan desert.
Sanaullah reportedly said that no province’s share of water could be unlawfully diverted, adding that the federal government believed in just and equitable distribution of resources. He also said that the issue shouldn’t be politicised, stressing that dialogue was the only way forward.
A day ago, Sanaullah said that his party held deep respect for the leadership of the PPP, and that no injustice was possible in the presence of the 1991 Water Accord and the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Act of 1992, which governed the inter-provincial water sharing.
The prime minister’ political adviser clarified that no province’s water could be diverted to another, as there were constitutional mechanisms and laws in place to ensure fairness in the distribution in the precious resource.
Meanwhile, Sindh’s senior minister welcomed the federal government’s willingness to hold talks, saying that the PPP and the people of Sindh had serious reservations over the canals project. He added that the party’s stance was firmly grounded in the 1991 water agreement. He reaffirmed Sindh’s opposition to “unconstitutional diversion of its water”.
Political temperature rose sharply when PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari issued a stark warning to the federal government during a public rally in Hyderabad on April 18. “The PPP is demanding that the federal government immediately stop the controversial canals project and accept our objections,” he declared, warning that failure to do so would result in the PPP abandoning the PML-N government.
Time and again, the PPP Parliamentarians has threatened to topple the PML-N government as both the parties had entered into a contract before forming the federal government back in February 2024 after a split mandate in the general elections.
Though the PPPP didn’t become a part of the federal cabinet, both sides had divided key constitutional offices between them. Bilawal’s warning has come despite an assurance given by Deputy Prime MInister Ishaq Dar in the National Assembly on April 11 that not a single drop of Sindh’s water share would be taken by any other province. “Everything will be discussed and settled before taking any step.”
PML-N, PPPP meet in Lahore
Meanwhile, a joint meeting of the PML-N and PPP coordination committee was held at the Governor House in Lahore to iron out differences. The meeting, attended by senior leaders from both parties including Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar – via a video link, Rana Sanaullah, Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan, and PPP leaders Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Nadeem Afzal Chan, and Syed Hassan Murtaza, focused largely on PPP’s grievances.
After the meeting, Murtaza and Khan acknowledged the sensitivities surrounding the water issue. As far as water’s distribution is concerned, Khan said, Irsa has already decided that matter, saying all parties agreed on Irsa’s document. In this ‘sacrosanct’ document, Khan said all the parties have agreed to 107 million acre feet of water distribution.
Due to some climate issues, Khan said that the available water right now was around 10 million acre feet less than the total capacity, adding that because of the shortage of water voices were also being raised in Punjab.
As far as the issue of water distribution was concerned, Khan continued, both sides would not discuss the issues from a political standpoint, rather, on the basis on data. He said Sindh had every right to “jealously guard” its share of water just like Punjab or any other province.
He recalled that the Kalabagh dam project was also shelved because of the political differences. “The people of Pakistan are very intelligent when it comes to discussing such issues.” On canals, he added, “The reservations must be addressed and both sides should understand each other’s technical position.”
PPP’s Hassan Murtaza stressed that while both parties had agreed to continue working together for the sake of national stability, the PPP still had serious concernsnot just over the canals, but also over wheat procurement, local governance, and the plight of farmers. “Sugarcane growers haven’t been paid by mills yet,” he said, pointing to broader governance challenges in Punjab.
According to party insiders, the PPP raised objections not just about water but also regarding developmental funds and administrative transparency in Punjab, pressing the PML-N to take corrective action. The PML-N reportedly asked for a week to address these concerns and gave assurances that issues would be settled down.
