New Delhi sends officials to Islamabad to discuss water
World Bank backed out of mediating, forcing two sides to talk directly
Pakistani and Indian experts have opened roundtable talks in Islamabad over water disputes between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Pakistan’s minister for water and hydroelectric power, Khawaja Asif, yesterday welcomed the Indian delegation, saying he hopes the two days of meetings will move the issue forward in anticipation of continued talks on April 12 in Washington.
Both sides signed the Indus Water Treaty in 1960, brokered by the World Bank, to share the vast water resources from the Indus River system, which supplies water to both countries. The treaty requires annual meetings but none have been held since 2015 because of tense relations.
The World Bank backed out of mediating the talks, forcing Pakistan and India to resume direct negotiations.
The meeting took place after a gap of nearly two years.
The 10-member Indian delegation led by Indus Water Commissioner P.K. Saxena held a close door meeting with the Pakistani side which was headed by Mirza Asif Saeed.
During the meeting, Pakistan was expected to highlight concerns about the three Indian hydro projects being built on the rivers flowing to Pakistan.
They are 1,000MW Pakul Dul on Chenab, 120MW Miyar, located across Miyar Nalla which is a right bank main tributary of River Chenab, and the 43MW Lower Kalnai hydro project on Lower Kalnai Nalla, a tributary of river Chenab.
Treaty under strain
Pakistan contends that the projects were violating the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, which has come under strain during the current tension between the two sides.
Pakul Dul and Lower Kalnai are being built in Jammu and Kashmir at a cost of 74.64 billion Indian rupees (Dh4.19 billion; November 2008 price level) and Rs3.96 billion respectively. Miyar hydroelectricity project, located in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul Spiti district, is estimated to cost Rs11.25 billion.
Yesterday’s meeting was the 113th session of the Permanent Indus Waters Commission which was established in 1960.
The last meeting of the commission was held in 2015.
Another meeting planned in September 2016 was cancelled due to tension following the Uri terror attack by Pakistanbased outfits.
Pakistan’s Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif said that Indus Waters Treaty is one of world agreements, which provides amicable solution of serious water issues between Pakistan and India.