ISLAMABAD, July 30: Pakistan and India on Friday failed to reach an amicable solution to their 20-year old dispute over the Wullar Barrage/ Tulbul Navigational Project after two-day talks but agreed to continue discussions at the next round of the dialogue process.

Confusion prevailed over the progress and outcome of the two-day secretary-level talks on the issue as both sides ended their meeting at about 11:15am, much ahead of the officially scheduled news briefing at 1pm.

The briefing was cancelled without any announcement and Water and Power Secretary Ashfaq Mehmood, who led the Pakistani delegation, told newsmen that both sides had finalized a joint statement which would be released by the foreign office. He, however, refused to give details of the talks.

The joint statement said: "The talks were held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. "It was agreed that the discussions would continue at the next round of the dialogue process with a view to finding a solution to the issue consistent with the provisions of the treaty."

The talks on the Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project were held as part of the composite dialogue process the two countries initiated early this year to resolve contentious issues, including Kashmir.

The Pakistani delegation was led by Water and Power Secretary Ashfaq Mehmood, while V.K. Duggal, Indian secretary for water resources, led the Indian side. The Pakistani side reiterated its position that no increase should be made in the height of the dam and it should remain at the point at which it was suspended in 1987, an official source told Dawn.

"In today's talks, we obtained some technical clarifications from the Indian side, discussed legal points and sought further clarifications but since the perceptions of the two sides were different (on the dispute), it was agreed to continue the dialogue process," Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah told Dawn.

Mr Shah said Pakistan could not discuss anything which was beyond the scope of the treaty and the Indian sides also agreed that a solution to the issue should be found in line with the provision of the treaty.

Responding to a question, Mr Shah said: "Since it (talks on the Wullar Barrage) is part of the composite dialogue process it could not be isolated and it was agreed that the process should go on."

Ashfaq Mehmood told reporters that issues like the Wullar Barrage did not resolve easily. Since discussions had begun it was expected that they would make progress and that's why it was decided to continue talks at the next round of the dialogue process.

He said that the date and venue for the next round of talks would be decided at the foreign office level, but Pakistan had proposed that the next round should again be held in Islamabad.

"No relaxations at all," Mr Mehmood said when asked to comment on reports suggesting that Pakistan was ready to extend some relaxations to India on the issue. A senior official when asked to comment on an Indian press report that New Delhi was no longer interested in reviving the Tulbul Navigational Project as it stood suspended since 1987, said had it been the case the Indian side would not have come over here to discuss the matter.

He said had India not been interested in the project, it could have informed Pakistan and the issue would have been settled without further discussions. The secretary-level talks on the Wullar barrage issue were last held in 1998.

India had started in 1984 construction of an around 439-feet-high and 40-feet-wide barrage on the Jhelum river with a storage capacity of around 0.3 million acre feet without informing Pakistan as required under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.