Lt Gen Ghani quits as Pakistan Water Authority head amid IWT rift

The chairperson of Pakistan's Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Lieutenant General Sajjad Ghani (Retd.), has resigned his post. People in the know told ET that Ghani's exit followed differences between the civilian administration and the military over the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).

According to the people cited earlier, differences have also emerged within both the WAPDA and Pakistan's ministry of water resources, which created conditions for Ghani's resignation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has forwarded the matter to the cabinet division for the approval of Ghani's resignation, they said.

Pakistan's civil administration has been blaming the army's top brass for creating conditions that led India to put the IWT in abeyance, people aware of the matter told ET, adding that the civilian administration has also blamed the army for the brewing crisis.

Ghani, an ethnic Kashmiri, was appointed WAPDA chairperson in August 2022. He is the son of actor Ahmed Taha Ghani. He was GOC 19 DIV (Jhelum) in the Pakistan army and later moved to HQ of Northern Swat in 2009. There are allegations of corruption against Ghani when he was in Swat. Later, he headed 5 Corps Karachi (2013 - 2015) of the Pakistan Army. As Corps Commander, he oversaw operational preparedness in southern Pakistan. He retired from military service in 2016.

Ghani was also appointed to the board of directors of Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO) on August 17, 2022.

The IWT was suspended by New Delhi after India-Pakistan ties deteriorated sharply following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. New Delhi has asserted that IWT will remain in abeyance until Islamabad "credibly and irrevocably" abjures support to cross-border terrorism as "water and blood" cannot flow together.