Indus treaty on hold till Pak stops exporting terror: Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar reiterated Thursday that the only issue which remains to be discussed on Kashmir is return of part of J&K that is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan (POK), while underlining that Indus Waters Treaty will remain in abeyance till Pakistan stops promoting cross-border terrorism irrevocably. “We are open to discussing that (return of PoK) with Pakistan... So I want you to spell out our positions very clearly... The govt’s position is very, very clear,” he told media at the inauguration of the Honduras embassy.Reiterating India's stand, external affairs minister said Thursday that India's relations and dealings with Pakistan will remain strictly bilateral with a focus on cross-border terrorism. He called upon Pakistan to hand over terrorists accused of attacking India.US President Donald Trump has offered mediation on the J&K issue, something India has rejected outright.“That (bilateralism) has been a national consensus for years, and there is absolutely no change. The prime minister made it very clear that talks with Pakistan will be only on terror. Pakistan has a list of terrorists that needs to be handed over, and they have to shut down the terrorists’ infrastructure. They know what to do. We are prepared to discuss with them what is to be done about terrorism. Those are the talks which are feasible,” said Jaishankar.Asked about Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), he said it was was very clear that the treaty is held in abeyance and will continue to be held in abeyance until cross-border terrorism by Pakistan is credibly and irrevocably stopped. The World Bank-brokered IWT allocates the eastern rivers (Beas, Ravi, and Sutlej) to India and the western rivers (Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum) to Pakistan, with some provisions for India to use the western rivers for limited irrigation and non-consumptive uses like power generation.The ministry of external affairs had said earlier this week that IWT was concluded in the spirit of goodwill and friendship as specified in the preamble of the treaty. “However, Pakistan has held these principles in abeyance by its promotion of cross-border terrorism for several decades now,” it had said, adding that climate change, demographic shifts and technological changes have created new realities on the ground as well.