Pak-India Indus Water Commission Talks End on Positive Note

The three-day meeting of the Indus Water Commission between Pakistan and India in Islamabad concluded on the positive note that India is willing to give more data to Pakistani authorities.

The commission initially met on March 1, in Islamabad, and Indian and Pakistani officials held talks for three days. The Indian side was led by Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Saxena, and Pakistan’s Commissioner for Indus Waters, Mehr Ali Shah, led the Pakistani side comprising officials from the Water and Power Development Authority, the Meteorological Department, Punjab Irrigation, the Federal Flood Commission, NESPAK, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sources close to the development claimed that the three-day meeting between the two commissioners of the Permanent Commission on Indus Waters (PCIW) had finalized discussions on all the agenda items on Wednesday, a day before schedule.

The Indian side explained that the provincial and state governments usually do not maintain design and engineering details in the matter of small projects but will get back to the concerned institutions and agencies to update documents as required under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

Pakistan had raised five major objections to the 624MW Kiru and 48MW Lower Kalnai projects which, it believed, were in violation of the 1960 treaty. These pertained to freeboard, intake, spillway, bondage, and low-level outlet.

India had shared some data with Pakistan that the latter had found unacceptable because of gaps in the manner and technical charts some of them were illegible. These projects included Kulan Ramwari, Kalaroos-II, Tamasha Hydro, Baltikulan, Darbuk Shyok, Nummu Chilling, Kargil Hunderman, and Phagla and Mandi HEP.

Pakistan insisted they could not be allowed to prolong unless a time frame was set.

Islamabad has provided a list of 15-20 additional objections to these projects to be addressed by India.

The sources said that the Indian side had agreed to examine the objections with an open mind. India agreed to substantiate its viewpoint on the objections with additional data and convey its response within two weeks. It also agreed to arrange a tour with the Pakistani team this year.

They added that both countries’ officials will announce the outcomes of the meeting in a press conference in Islamabad in the evening.



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