Pakistan has told the United Nations that the transborder management of water is the key to sustainable development goals. The comment came in a UN session on the water on Sunday. 

“And as a signatory (to the 1960 Indus Water Treaty), we believe in transboundary water cooperation as a pillar for sustainable water management,” Malik Amin Aslam, the special assistant to Pakistan’s prime minister on climate change, was quoted as saying by Dawn. 

Without transborder management of water, inclusive and sustainable development goals are not possible to achieve, he said. 

About 40 percent of the world population lives on shared river basins, said Munir Akram Khan, the Pakistan permanent presentative to the UN. 

He further said, “Cooperation at all levels is required for a holistic, systemic, and multilateral response to confront and overcome the water challenge. The focus of our efforts should be to fully implement this fundamental right (to water) for all the world’s people.”

Significantly, the comment came a day before delegations of India and Pakistan are to meet in New Delhi on Monday. The Pakistan team is expected to raise their objections regarding Indian water projects being undertaken in shared rivers. 

Both the countries share the water of six rivers according to the 1960 Indus Water Treaty brokered by the World Bank.