INDIA BOYCOTT UNFORTUNATE, SAYS PAKISTAN
Fuming over India’s decision not to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan on Wednesday termed the move as “unfortunate”.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said, “While we have not received any official communication in this regard, the Indian announcement is unfortunate,” he said.
However, Pakistan said it will go ahead and host the event in November.
Zakaria said Pakistan will host the 19th Saarc summit in November,
Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday.
Besides India, three other Saarc members — Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan — have pulled out of the summit, indirectly blaming Pakistan for “creating an environment which is not right for the successful holding” of the meet.
Under the Saarc charter, the summit is automatically postponed or cancelled even if one member country skips the event.
Islamabad, Sept. 28: Pakistan on Wednesday claimed the World Bank has “committed” itself to “timely fulfilling its obligations” under the Indus Water Treaty while remaining neutral as Islamabad approached the international lender amid reports that India may revoke the 56-yearold deal.
A Pakistani delegation led by the attorney general for Pakistan, Ashtar Ausaf Ali, met with senior officials of the World Bank at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, to discuss matters relating to the Indus Waters Treaty that was brokered by the World Bank.
They discussed “the formation of Court of arbitration for resolving the matter of water disputes especially those related to construction of hydropower projects,” Pakistan’s ministry of water and power said in a statement. “The World Bank will be deciding the issue in the next few days,” it added. “In the meeting with the Pakistani delegation, the World Bank committed itself to timely fulfilling its obligations under the treaty while remaining neutral,” said a statement issued by the Pakistani Embassy in Washington.
Under the treaty, which was signed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan in September 1960 and brokered by the World Bank, waters of six rivers — Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum — were to be shared between the two countries.
On 19 August, Pakistan had formally requested India for settlement of outstanding disputes pertaining to India’s construction of Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric plants on rivers Neelum and Chenab respectively, by referring the matters to the Court of Arbitration. — PTI