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ISLAMABAD: World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva said here on Saturday that she had held “constructive discussions” with the Pakistani leadership on the Indus Waters Treaty.
In a statement issued at the end of her three-day visit to Pakistan, she said the discussions had helped her fully understand all perspectives on the treaty.
India, Pakistan and the World Bank are signatories to the treaty and are in discussions on how to resolve disagreements the two countries have over India’s construction of two hydropower plants.
Maintaining its neutral role as a treaty signatory, the World Bank in December announced a pause in separate processes initiated by India and Pakistan under the treaty to allow the two countries to consider alternative ways to resolve their disagreements.
The hope with announcing the pause was for the two countries to begin to resolve the issue in an amicable manner and in line with the spirit of the treaty instead of pursuing concurrent processes that could make the treaty unworkable over time.
The World Bank official announced her support to a deepening of Pakistan’s reforms for accelerating economic growth.
“Pakistan is fully aware that it needs to step up to a higher level of growth, create opportunities for its youth and contribute to sustainable growth,” Ms Georgieva said. “In my meetings with the prime minister and finance minister, we agreed that the government should speedily implement structural reforms needed to spur private investments.”
During her visit, Ms Georgieva called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and met with his economic team led by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Minister of Water and Power Khawaja Asif.
She started her trip with a visit to Tarbela Hydropower Project.
“Tarbela is a marvellous project for Pakistan and a testimony to sustainable management of the Indus. It is an excellent example to showcase... that Pakistan is producing clean, renewable and environment-friendly energy,” Ms Georgieva said.
She also met the leadership of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and learnt about province-level reform efforts and development projects under implementation and preparation with the bank’s support.
Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2017
