NEW DELHI: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has unveiled plans to build dams on the Kunar river, a move that could restrict water flows to Pakistan’s Indus river, with the development coming days after deadly border clashes between Afghan and Pakistani troops.
The Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, issued the order for building dams on the Kunar river “as fast as possible”, according to social media posts by Taliban leaders. Akhundzada directed Afghanistan’s water and energy ministry to sign contracts with Afghan companies to build the dams, instead of waiting for foreign firms.
The Taliban’s deputy information minister, Mujahid Farahi, announced Akhundzada’s directives on social media on Thursday.
The Taliban’s water and power Minister of Abdul Latif Mansoor also said that “Afghans have the right to manage their own water resources”.
The development comes against the backdrop of lingering tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which signed a ceasefire agreement on October 19 following talks brokered by Qatar and Türkiye to end more than a week of fighting that killed hundreds of troops on both sides.
The hostilities were triggered by Pakistan’s air strikes within Afghan territory on October 9 that targeted the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
People familiar with the matter said that India has no role in Afghanistan’s efforts to use the water resources of the Kunar river, which originates in the Chiantar glacier in Pakistan before flowing into the Kabul river in Afghanistan. The Indian side agreed to support a project on the Kabul river in 2019, well before the fall of the Ashraf Ghani government, but work on that project had not gone ahead, the people said.
The Kunar river’s flows feed the Indus river in Pakistan, a key source for irrigation, drinking water and generation of hydroelectricity.
The Taliban regime’s move comes months after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, which was carried out by The Resistance Front, a proxy for Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, and resulted in the death of 26 civilians. Unlike the case with India, Pakistan does not have any agreement with Afghanistan on the sharing of the waters of cross-border rivers.
When Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi visited India earlier this month, the management of water resources figured in his discussions with external affairs minister S Jaishankar.
A joint statement issued after their talks on October 10 said both sides appreciated India’s help in the construction and maintenance of the India-Afghanistan Friendship Dam or Salma dam in Herat province, and “underscored the importance of sustainable water management”. The two sides also “agreed to cooperate on hydroelectric projects with a view to addressing Afghanistan’s energy needs and support its agricultural development”.
