ISLAMABAD: Pakistan-US talks on Thursday centred on the former’s management of water resources. Under discussion were the significance of water security, the creation of a water regulatory authority and the sustainability of efficient infrastructure in Pakistan.
The talks are part of the Pak-US Strategic Dialogue, which spans several sectors, is an initiative aimed at proving to Islamabad that the US is looking to a long-term partnership to improving the lives of Pakistanis.
This was the first meeting of the Water Working Group and the group plans to meet again in six months. Water management issues were identified as a priority during the visit of the US
secretary of state to Pakistan in October 2009 and were elevated as a key area for increased cooperation during the US-Pakistan Dialogue held in Washington D.C. in March 2010.
Representing the government of Pakistan were Water and Power minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, special assistant to the prime minister on water resources and agriculture Kamal Majidullah, Ministry of Water and Power secretary Shahid Rafi and Water and Power Development Authority chairman Shakil Durrani. Also in attendance were representatives from the governments of Azad Jammu Kashmir, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. Meanwhile, the US delegation was led by Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs at the State Department Maria Otero and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Economics at the National Security Council David Lipton.
Both sides discussed the significance of water security, the creation of a water regulatory authority and the sustainability of efficient infrastructure.
Water management, cost recovery on operation and maintenance charges as well as the maintenance of irrigation structures within and among the provinces were also discussed. The US delegation brought to the table their experiences of balancing state and federal interests in water management and other countries’ experiences were also discussed.
The two sides also spoke of developing a water-sector partnership predicated on mutually agreed priorities. The topics discussed included river watershed management, conservation, water inefficiency and irrigation, the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation, water productivity and quality, sustainable infrastructure and cost recovery, water storage, integrated water management and the effects of global warming and regional climate change. Views on future cooperation with multilateral development banks and the private sector to improve the management of water resources in Pakistan were also exchanged.
Otero and Lipton have now invited a group of Pakistani water experts to visit the US in fall to meet with US water specialists.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 18th, 2010.
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