Pak inspection of Indian hydel projects postponed

: India has postponed the scheduled inspection of its two hydropower projects on the Chenab river by Pakistani experts following the fresh tension in bilateral ties and cancellation of foreign ministers’ meeting in New York, according to a media report here Wednesday.

The Indian authorities postponed the inspection by Pakistani experts and said that it would not be possible due to the local-body elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Dawn news quoted a source as saying.

After the bilateral talks on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) last month in Lahore, India rejected Pakistan’s objections on the construction of the 1,000MW Pakal Dul dam and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydropower projects on the Chenab river and invited Pakistani experts to visit the sites to address their concern.

The experts were scheduled to inspect two hydropower projects by October but India cancelled it, citing some local issues, the report quoted the source as saying. “It seems to be a fallout of the recent tension emerging with the cancellation of the talks by India as other issues are normally affected in a larger context in such situations,” the senior official, on condition of anonymity, said.

India called off the meeting between Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, citing the “brutal” killing of three policemen in the Valley and the release of the postal stamps “glorifying” Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

The source said the Indian delegation had agreed to get the two projects inspected by Pakistani experts this month.

“Through a letter, India confirmed October 7 to 11 for the inspection of the projects by a three-member Pakistani team headed by the Indus Water Commissioner,” he said.

India said that since the administration of the respective districts in Kashmir would be busy holding the local-body elections till October 5, the inspection would only be possible from October 7 to 11, the source said.

“But now the Indian authorities have postponed the inspection... They didn’t give us new dates as they just stated to coordinate with Pakistani authorities soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Commissioner for Indus Waters Mehr Ali Shah expressed disappointment over the postponement and said that when something is mutually agreed at the state level, it should not be delayed or deferred on petty issues.

“We request our counterparts to fulfil their commitment they had made during their visit to Lahore last month,” Shah said.

The talks on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in Lahore last month was the first official engagement between India and Pakistan since Imran Khan became Prime Minister on August 18.