May 10, 2005	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LAHORE, May 9: Pakistan on Monday threatened to invoke “treaty mechanism” and take the Kishanganga Hydropower Project to the World Bank for arbitration if India failed to resolve the issue to Islamabad’s satisfaction by July 15. The threat was delivered by Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Basin Treaty, Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, during the first round of talks on the second day of dialogue between the two countries.

During the talks, the Pakistan delegation “strongly objected” to its not being provided with sufficient information on the project.

The two sides were discussing first of the six questions posed by Pakistan regarding the project modalities when the Indian side said it did not have the relevant information. That annoyed the Pakistani side which said that the Indians should have come prepared on issues raised by Pakistan during the last meeting.

“Coming ill-prepared on the agenda does not help build a conducive atmosphere for result-oriented talks,” a Pakistan delegate said.

After failure to finalize the first item on agenda, both sides moved to the next one. Discussion on the second item regarding design of the dam was still continuing when the stipulated time expired and the delegates rose to meet on Tuesday.

Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Mr Shah said: “Pakistan had hoped that technical problems would be sorted out within first three months of the talks, but the Indian side did not furnish sufficient data. That is why Pakistan agreed to extend the talks and set a deadline of July 15.”

Talking about setting a timeframe for the resolution of the problem, he said Pakistan wanted India to either suspend work on the dam or agree to a specific timeframe.

He said the talks were meant to ensure adherence to the provisions of the Indus Basin Treaty rather than changing the design of the project.

He insisted that objections of Pakistan were valid and India had to adjust design accordingly. Pakistan would not “give up even a drop of water” to India that is not allowed to it under the treaty.

Pakistan, he said, was still determining the validity of the information provided on the hydrology of the dam. Pakistan had asked for specific information on the design of the dam and had not received sufficient data on it. It will further take up the issue in the next meeting.

On the occasion, Mr D.K. Mehta, Commissioner (Indian), said that “our objective” was to come to a “mutual agreement and have a common value” through dialogue.

“In our second meeting we will look at the objections raised by Pakistan and keeping those in mind will present our design,” Mr Mehta said.

He, for the first time, formally announced that a timeframe of July 15 had been agreed upon to resolve all issues regarding the dam project.

The commission will have at least 2 more meetings on the issue. One of them will be held in New Delhi this month and the next one in Pakistan for which a date will be decided later.