ISLAMABAD, Dec 19: Pakistan has been informed by international legal experts on water disputes that it has a very strong case against India on the Baglihar dam issue and it stands a good chance of having its concerns redressed, it is learnt.

"The government recently sought the opinion of independent international experts and they conveyed to us about 10 days back that Pakistan has a strong case on the Baglihar dam issue," sources in the government told Dawn, hinting that Islamabad was now close to moving the World Bank for arbitration.

The sources refused to divulge the experts' names, but said they were 'world renowned British experts'. It is learnt that Pakistan's ambassador to the US Jehangir Karamat took up last week the matter with the president of the World Bank which had brokered the Indus Waters Treaty and also stood as its guarantor.

Ambassador Karamat briefed the bank's president in Washington on Islamabad's position and underlined the gravity of the issue, the sources said. Senior foreign ministry officials have also briefed European Union envoys and ambassadors of the US, Canada, Japan, China, Australia and other countries on the matter.

Another briefing on the 'technical' aspects of the issue for the Islamabad-based envoys was expected this week, the sources said. Pakistan's contention is that the design of the 450mw Baglihar hydro-power project being constructed by India on the river Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir violates the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

India maintains that the project design does not violate the treaty. The bilateral water-sharing treaty gives both countries the third-party option in case of a deadlock on any issue. Article IX of the treaty provides for settling disputes through neutral experts or arbitration if they cannot be resolved between the two water commissioners.

Pakistan last month proposed to India the date of Dec 6 for the last round of talks on the Baglihar project in a final bid to settle the dispute at a bilateral level.

However, the Indian side insisted that talks should be held after it had provided the technical data of the dam on Dec 15 to which Pakistan proposed that the meeting be held the same day. India did not agree, saying the meeting should be held towards the end of December.

The decision to have one last meeting on the Baglihar dam issue was reached at the Nov 24 meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in New Delhi where the issue was raised by the Pakistani leader. Prime Minister Aziz as a goodwill gesture acceded to his Indian counterpart's request to settle the issue bilaterally.

India provided the technical data of the Baglihar dam to Pakistan at the recently concluded expert-level talks on nuclear and conventional CBMs. Under the understanding reached between the water and power secretaries of the two countries earlier this year, India was supposed to provide the data in July.

An inter-ministerial meeting, it is learnt, will review on Monday the data submitted by India and decide whether Pakistan should agree to one last meeting to resolve the issue bilaterally or exercise the option of moving the World Bank.

When asked about the estimated cost of arbitration by the World Bank, a senior diplomat said: "The cost is immaterial when it comes to defending an issue of national interest."

Pakistan realizes that time is running out on Baglihar and India is resorting to delaying tactics. Recent reports from New Delhi and occupied Kashmir indicate that India has speeded up the pace of work at the project and recruited hundreds of additional civil engineers for its early completion.

At the heart of the dispute is the design of the project, which, according to Pakistan, provides for submerged gated spillways, and therefore gives India control over Pakistani waters in breach of the Indus Waters Treaty.

One serious consequence of the 'pondage facility' and the height of the gated structure, to which Pakistan has strongly objected, would be arming India with the capability to cause acute water shortages in Pakistan. Technical experts warn it could deprive Pakistan of up to 7,000 cusecs of water per day.

India has been dragging its feet on the Baglihar dam issue since 1999 when the project was launched. India has consistently ignored Pakistan's repeated demands to suspend work till the issue is settled. The Baglihar project is expected to begin generation by 2006.