THE warning by Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah that India would make the country barren by 2014 should be heeded by all and sundry. Considering the troubled history of bilateral relations and what our eastern neighbour had all along been doing to hurt us, there should be little doubt that it would live up to its repute unless measures are taken to forestall its moves. Talking to mediamen at Lahore Press Club on Sunday, Mr Shah has rightly underscored the need to stop India from cutting off Pakistan's share of water. Though the Indian government, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had promised earlier to compensate the water loss, nothing could materialise. Now once again, New Delhi is saying it would consider releasing extra water in Chenab and in this regard, according to Mr Shah, an Indian team headed by its Indus Waters Commissioner will be visiting Pakistan on November 29 for talks. One hopes that the delegation would understand that Pakistan, which had forgone its rights on the eastern rivers, now is dependent upon the Indus water system and that after it was deprived of the Chenab water earlier this year, its agriculture received a big setback. Our Waters Commissioner is right when he airs his fears about India's plans to convert Pakistan into an agricultural wasteland. Apart from the controversial Baglihar dam, it is building more than 50 dams and other water storage projects, leaving little doubt about India's sinister strategy. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has expressed the wish to take up the canal waters issue with the Indian leadership in his forthcoming visit. One hopes that he would be more assertive in highlighting the damage the Indians have already done. Besides under the circumstances, US President-elect Barack Obama's vision for better Indo-Pak relations to defuse the tensions on our eastern borders so as to enable us to divert our energies on to the western, would remain a dream if India continues to foment trouble.