ISLAMABAD – The one-day international conference “Pakistan’s Water SecurityPolicy: Famine Threat and Future Challenges” was organised by the PakistanHouse on Monday at a local hotel.
The conference mainly focused on exploring the extent to which Pakistan isaffected by droughts and famines, and their causes and effects. Theconference was also aimed at reviewing the state of water security inPakistan and devising new approaches to ensure water security for a largepopulation.
Former Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retd) Asif Yasin Malik HI(M), in hiswelcoming remarks, said, “Water security has new dimensions and its impactsare beyond borders”.
“India is choking our resources by limiting our water resources. No singlereservoir was constructed and political interests have ganged up againstthe future and survival of the country,” said Malik as he opined thatKalabagh dam should be a major manifesto in the coming elections and areferendum should be held on the issue as “it is the quickest and surestsolution to the problem”.
Former ambassador Salman Bashir insisted on the right of every citizen toget safe and adequate water and called for working towards sensitisingpolitical spectrum towards water security for a sustainable future.
He also stressed the need for developing regional approach to resolve waterissues, saying that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(Saarc) could be utilised in the context.
“Pakistan and India can both benefit from regional initiatives like Saarcand it should not be politicised. Dispute resolution should be focusedupon, and international community must persuade India for resolving issuesrelated to water,” he said.
He also called upon parliamentarians to undertake legislative measures andfactor in water development policies.
“Building water storage capacity should be a top priority as water is botha federal and provincial subject,” said Salman as he suggested thatPakistan and China should collaborate in water technology to improvedistribution channels.