NEW DELHI: With the weather office issuing a red alert on Sunday predicting extreme rainfall over the next two days in J&K, India formally notified Pakistan about the potential risk of flash floods in the Tawi and Sutlej rivers as a gesture of good neighbourliness.
The alert was sent through diplomatic channels rather than the Indus Waters Treaty framework, since India placed the Treaty in abeyance shortly after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
For its part, the Pakistan Foreign Office confirmed India’s two alerts: on Sunday about the Tawi flooding, and on Monday on possible flash floods in the Sutlej.
Sources said that the alert was directly communicated to the Pakistani government through the Indian High Commission (IHC) there. The IHC reached out to the Pakistani Foreign Office, instead of routing the information through the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.
Jammu experienced record rainfall on Sunday, significantly increasing water levels in the Tawi, which could lead to a flood disaster in Pakistan. The Tawi in Jammu is a tributary of the Chenab, flowing through Jammu city before joining the Chenab, which eventually flows into Pakistan.