Pak minister takes up ‘illegal’ building of dams by India

PAKISTAN COMPLAINED INDIA HAD VIOLATED A WORLD BANKMANDATED PAUSE, IMPOSED IN 2016, BY COMPLETING THE KISHANGANGA PROJECT.

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met World Bank president Jim Yong Kim on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and discussed what he described as the “illegal” construction of dams by India.

The meeting on Monday focussed on implementing the World Bank’s role as the administrator of the Indus Waters Treaty, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Qureshi asked the World Bank to “empanel the court of arbitration over (the) illegal construction of dams by India on western rivers”, the report said.

He also told the World Bank president that India’s construction of Kishanganga and Ratle dams represented a violation of the Indus Waters Treaty.

Talking to journalists after the meeting, Qureshi said he had asked that Pakistan’s request pertaining to paragraph 11 of Annexure G of the treaty related to the formation of a court of arbitration - should be focused on.

Pakistan and India, he said, were unable to resolve the issue bilaterally and the World Bank president had promised to make one more effort to resolve differences.

“I heard his point of view and he has promised that he will make one more attempt (at this issue),” he added.

Qureshi said the new Pakistan government “views this as a humanitarian issue with the lives and livelihoods of millions at stake”.

During the meeting, he contended the “procedural delay” in Pakistan’s request to the World Bank had resulted in completion of the Kishanganga project while construction was underway on Ratle dam.

In April, the World Bank said it had received Pakistan’s complaint on the completion of the Kishanganga hydropower plant and was working with Islamabad and New Delhi for an amicable resolution of the matter.

Pakistan complained India had violated a World Bank-mandated pause, imposed in 2016, by completing the Kishanganga project.

Radio Pakistan reported that the World Bank president said he understood Pakistan’s position on the Indus Waters Treaty and desired to play a constructive role in resolving this important matter at the earliest. Qureshi indicated the World Bank is in the “process of finalising a fresh initiative” for which it will soon approach India and Pakistan with details.