Islamabad asks Delhi to allow site inspection: Kishanganga hydro-power project
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, June 4: Pakistan has asked India to allow immediate site-inspection of Kishanganga hydro-power and storage project allegedly being built on Neelum river in the held Kashmir in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960.
“We have asked India to allow site inspection (of Kishanganga project) and hopefully it will do so,” Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, here on Saturday, said, adding that a team of experts would be visiting India shortly.
He was talking to reporters at the Prime Minister’s House after presiding over a meeting on Kishanganga and Baglihar projects. The meeting was attended by top officials of foreign office, law and water and power ministries and Pakistan Indus Commissioner and others.
The meeting decided to send a team comprising the attorney-general of Pakistan, water and power secretary and other experts to Paris to attend a meeting convened on June 9-10 by neutral expert appointed by the World Bank to address differences between the two countries on Baglihar hydro-power project.
Mr Aziz said Pakistan Indus Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah briefed the meeting about his discussions with Indian authorities early this week on Kishanganga project. He said Pakistan desired that the disputes should be resolved in accordance with the provisions of the treaty and it would accept the decision of the neutral expert.
Asked why an allocation of Rs5 billion for Neelum-Jhelum hydro-power project in Azad Kashmir was withdrawn from the public sector development programme at the last moment despite its strategic importance, the prime minister said the project would be pursued on a self-financing basis.
He said three bids received for the project were currently in the process of evaluation and efforts would be made to begin the project at the earliest.
Replying to a question on the NFC, Mr Aziz said all the chief ministers had authorized President Gen Pervez Musharraf to take a decision on distribution of resources. “The president is abroad and work is in progress on the NFC. Whenever finalized it would be presented to you,” he said.
He said that the federal and provincial budgets would be based on the existing award, but for the first time “we will incorporate flexibility in the budget to adjust the new NFC award after the budget announcement”. Replying a question on gas pipeline, the prime minister said that the Indian oil minister would reach Islamabad on Sunday to meet him and hold discussions with relevant quarters on Iran to India gas pipeline via Pakistan.
He said Pakistan has crystallized various parameters of the gas pipelines and President Musharraf would discuss the question of Qatar to Pakistan gas pipeline with Qatari leadership during his ongoing visit to Arab states. It would be followed by discussions with Turkmenistan.
