NEW DELHI: BJP president JP Nadda on Monday accused former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of committing one of his biggest blunders by signing the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan for his personal gain, compromising national interests.
In a post on ‘X’, Nadda said, “The Indus Water Treaty, 1960, was one of the biggest blunders of former PM Jawaharlal Lal Nehru that kept national interest at the altar of personal ambitions.”
He claimed that Nehru unilaterally handed over 80% of the Indus basin waters to Pakistan, leaving India with only 20%. “It was a decision that permanently compromised India’s water security and national interest,” Nadda added.
He criticised Nehru for bypassing Parliament. “The treaty was signed in September 1960. However, it was placed before Parliament only two months later, in November, and that too, for a token discussion of mere 2 hours!” Nadda said.
Nadda said, “It was such a monumental blunder that even Pandit Nehru’s party MPs vehemently opposed it. He yielded far too much, receiving nothing in return.”
Nadda concluded, “Such was the clarity with which Atal ji placed India’s national interest above everything else... He (Nehru) even admitted that he had decided without bothering about parliamentary approval in matters of international treaties that handed away India’s critical resources. To add insult to injury, he derided the opinions of fellow parliamentarians who spoke for the national interest as being too ‘narrow’.”