PESHAWAR, Nov 1: Federal Minister for Water and Power Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that Pakistan is ready to enter into a water accord with Afghanistan, like the Indus-Basin Water Treaty, for the better use of water resources across the border.

Speaking to newsmen at meet the press programme organized by the Khyber Union of Journalists at the Peshawar Press Club on Saturday, Aftab Sherpao said Wapda had made such an offer to Kabul through the foreign office. He said Pakistan had already signed a water apportionment accord with India under the title of Indus-Basin Water Treaty in 1960.

He said though no reply had so far been received from Afghanistan, Islamabad would welcome the move whenever Kabul agreed to the offer.

The minister also underlined the need for developing more water reservoirs to meet the future needs of the country.

Mr Sherpao said his party had always worked for evolving a consensus on the construction of Kalabagh dam among all the four federating units of the country. He said the final feasibility report on the Bhasha dam would be made public in June next year.

He said the World Bank had agreed to finance the mega projects vital for the socio-economic development of the country. It was not right that the World Bank was opposed to the Kalabagh dam due to its capacity or size, he added.

Recalling the Kalabagh dam’s original plan, Mr Sherpao said at the time of the Indus-Basin Water Treaty, Pakistan had been asked to build Mangla and Kalabagh dams within 10 years, besides developing its canal system in Punjab and Sindh. But, the then President Ayub Khan ordered the construction of Mangla and Tarbela dams, he added.

Mr Sherpao said President Pervez Musharraf had underlined the need for developing more water reservoirs and the four chief ministers who met recently in Lahore had also agreed on the building of maximum water reservoirs for irrigation purposes.

Commenting on the arrest of PML-N acting chief Javed Hashmi, he said, Mr Hashmi should not have crossed the limits and acted against the national interests.

In reply to a question, Mr Sherpao, however, did not identify any parameter for the armed forces which had dismissed the government and dissolved parliament in Oct 1999.

He said the unfortunate arrest of Mr Hashmi could have been avoided if he had confined himself to the opposition to the government.

Referring to the Legal Framework Order, he said the LFO was not a people’s issue. He said the combined joint opposition had failed to muster people’s support on the LFO.

Replying to a question, the minister denied that he was making any efforts to destabilize the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government in the North-West Frontier Province.

Chief minister Akram Durrani, he said, had repeatedly said that his government was stable like a rock, then why he made opposite statements, he added.

He said issuance of a show-cause notice to Abdul Akbar Khan was an internal matter of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (Sherpao).

Mr Sherpao denied that any operation was being conducted against the tribesmen in the tribal area.

He said armed forces had been deployed in the Fedrally Administered Tribal Areas to root out terrorists from certain pockets. The armed forces, he said, were engaged in the social development of these areas.

In reply to a question, Mr Sherpao said Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan had signed a tripartite agreement for the rehabilitation of Afghan refugees, which would not expire even after 2005, the deadline for the repatriation of the refugees.