WB nod for Indus projects
India given open access to Indo-Pak waters
Washington: India and Pakistan will hold another round of talks here next month to discuss differences in the implementation of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the World Bank said on Wednesday. Ahead of the next round of talks, the global lender also issued a fact sheet giving its stated position on the IWT under which India is allowed to construct hydroelectric facilities on the shared Indo-Pak rivers.
Washington, Aug. 2: India and Pakistan will hold another round of talks here next month to discuss differences in the implementation of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, the World Bank said on Wednesday.
Ahead of the next round of talks, the global lender also issued a fact sheet giving its stated position on the IWT under which India is allowed to construct hydroelectric facilities on the shared Indo-Pak rivers. As per the IWT provisions, India does not require any approval or clearance from third party for constructing projects such as Kishenganga on the Western Rivers.
The World Bank’s statement came after India and Pakistan concluded the secretarylevel talks over the IWT on Monday, with the global lender maintaining that it was held in a spirit of “goodwill and cooperation”.
“The parties have agreed to continue discussions and reconvene in September in Washington, DC,” the World Bank said in a brief statement issued at the conclusion of the talks.
In the fact sheet issued on Wednesday, the global lender said Pakistan opposes the construction of the Kishanganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric power plants being built by India in Jammu and Kashmir.
Noting that the two countries disagree over whether the design features of the hydroelectric plants contravene the treaty, the World Bank said the IWT designates these two rivers as well as the Indus as the “Western Rivers” to which Pakistan has unrestricted use.