Pakistani delegation to visit India in Aug

Some decisions did emerge from the Indus water commissioners’ meeting on Wednesday despite initial deadlocks.


Express July 23, 2010

LAHORE: Some decisions did emerge from the Indus water commissioners’ meeting on Wednesday despite initial deadlocks.

The agenda for the meeting included a system to measure the flow of water in the rivers shared by Pakistan and India and embankments on River Ravi. It was decided that a delegation from Pakistan will visit India in August to inspect rivers in India. However, it is unclear if they will be allowed access to River Ravi’s embankments. An Indian delegation will also visit Pakistan later for similar inspections. The commission also discussed how real time flow of rivers can be measured. This will help verify allegations of water stoppage from both sides.

The Pakistani delegation also requested that Indian authorities inform Pakistani authorities before releasing waters from their rivers. This was one of the decisions reached in the Indus Water Treaty of 1960.

Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah said that provinces and the government will be kept in the loop on whatever response they get from the Indian side on the issues discussed in the meeting.

“We will consult the provinces and our government and this issue will be discussed in the next meeting. Secondly, we will apprise the government of India’s response and then the government can take whatever decision it deems proper,” he said.

At the start of the meeting, the Pakistani delegation raised the issue of the Nimoo Bazgo power plant, a project that India plans to build over the River Indus. Pakistan has raised objections over the design, saying that it is not within the permissible limits of the Indus Waters Treaty. The Indian delegation refused to talk about the issue, saying that it wasn’t on the agenda for this meeting. However, the commission decided that it will be discussed once the Indian government responds to Pakistan’s concerns.

G Ranganathan, the Indian Indus Water Commissioner, said that he was still waiting for a response from his government regarding this issue. “I will [have to] consult the government and various other relevant quarters on the Indian side. And I cannot immediately give a decision on my own. I have to consult quite a lot of people on it and the sum total of the decision that comes out will be conveyed in the further meetings of the Indus commission,” he said.

The six-member Indian delegation leaves on Saturday.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23rd, 2010.

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