ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: The commissioners of Pakistan and India on Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) said on Sunday a solution to the longstanding Baglihar dispute could be achieved on a "give and take basis".

"Ultimately, all solutions (to the disputes) are reached through compromise, flexibility and give and take, and it is our desire to find out a solution in the spirit of the (Indus Waters) Treaty," said Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, Pakistan's commissioner on the PIC.

He was talking to Dawn after the conclusion of his three-day special meeting with his Indian counterpart. The meeting was convened on the request of the Indian government to settle down the issue at bilateral-level instead of going to the neutral expert.

India and Pakistan are in serious dispute for more than four years on the 450-MW Baglihar Hydropower Project on the Chenab river, which Islamabad believes is being constructed by New Delhi in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960, and to its disadvantage.

D. K. Mehta, the Indian Commissioner on PIC, said that his side was ready to address Pakistan's concerns and try its best to merge viewpoints of the two sides to find out a solution.

The three-day talks, however, concluded on a cautious, but seemingly confused note. The two sides were reluctant to say whether or not they have reached a point of agreement.

Mr Mehta said he hoped that the next round of PIC talks would pick up the thread from where it left on Sunday. Mr Shah said the treaty provided solutions at the PIC-level, governments-level, at the level of neutral expert and through the court of arbitration, and added: "Pakistan is not shy of processing the issue at any level and it would use any mechanism that it deemed fit to find out a point of convergence."

He said it was not right to say that Pakistan would loose in case the two sides could not converge on a point at the PIC-level because mechanism of the treaty was very broad and not limited.

Asked whether there was any breakthrough in the talks, Mr Mehta said: "We discussed things in a friendly and cooperative atmosphere. It is a step forward."

The Indian commissioner said he has tried to remove apprehension of his Pakistani counterpart. "It is a continuous process that would go on, but now the two governments would decide about the future course of action specially in view of improving bilateral relations."

The Pakistan commissioner said both the sides reiterated their viewpoints and advanced their arguments. A summed up record of the meetings would be submitted to the respective government, he added. The ultimate decision would be made by the two governments because the meeting was arranged on their advice.