Pakistan, India to hold water talks in New Delhi today
PHOTO: FILE
A five-member Pakistani delegation, led by Indus Water Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah, left for India via Wagah Border on Sunday to discuss issues pertaining to sharing of water resources under the Indus Water Agreement.
The meeting between water experts has been convened after it was previously speculated that the talks might be delayed since New Delhi did not respond to Islamabad’s letter for the same despite the passage of a month. Under the relevant provisions of the IWT 1960, the meeting takes place alternatively in Pakistan and India annually.
The delegation includes representatives of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), Irrigation Department, Nespak, and Foreign Ministry.
Speaking before his departure, Shah said that the talks would focus on the advance notice of floods in the rivers coming from India and would also include the signing of the annual report of the Indus Water Commission. He added that during the talks to be held on May 30 and 31, the parties would also discuss PCIW's annual report.
The commissioner said that India has built small hydropower plants on the Indus River, which is allowed under the Indus Water Treaty, but Pakistan has objections to three major hydropower projects being built by India on the Chenab River.
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India has started work on the Kiru hydropower project, and Pakistan has asked for its details, he added.
The two sides will also consider the 1,000-megawatt Pakal Dal, 48-megawatt Lower Kalnai, and 624-megawatt Kiru hydropower projects being built by India on Pakistan's rivers under the Indus Water Agreement.
Shah said that the last meeting was held in Islamabad in March, and the 118th meeting is being held in New Delhi now.
Responding to a question, the commissioner said that the delegation was going to attend the meeting for now and there would be a separate schedule for inspection of controversial projects.
“If we want to visit then India is bound to allow us,” he added.
It is worth mentioning here that in March, Islamabad and New Delhi had reiterated to implement the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) following the 117th meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission.
During the second round of talks between the two sides on the construction of hydropower projects by India in the disputed border areas of China, India, and Pakistan, including Kargil, remained inconclusive.
During the talks, India categorically rejected Pakistan's concerns over the provision of data on the flow of eastern rivers Ravi, Satluj, and Beas as per the 1989 data-sharing arrangement, saying it could only provide data on the flow of eastern rivers to Pakistan in case of high floods forecast during the monsoon.
Shah, while leading the talks, had objected to the design of India’s controversial projects, and was assured by the Indian side that Pakistan would be informed of positive developments regarding it by May this year.
“Response to Pakistan’s objections to Indian projects including Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai was also sought,” read the communiqué issued after the meeting.
“Both sides reiterated their commitment to implement the Indus Waters Treaty in its true spirit and expressed the hope that the next meeting of the commission would be held at an early date in India,” it added.