LAHORE, June 6 Pakistan has taken up Indus Basin Water Treaty violations with India to solve these within the provisions of the treaty because these can lead to heightened tensions between the two countries if ignored, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday.
Speaking at the 114th general meeting of the Farmers Associates Pakistan, Qureshi said water distribution was a sensitive subject between the two countries and every friction needed to be resolved in this regard.
He claimed to have taken up all issues afflicting water relations between the two countries and urged New Delhi to settle them under bilateral arrangements. He said settlement of these issues under the Indus Basin Water Treaty bilaterally was the first priority of Pakistan. He said Pakistan had the right to go for arbitration if these issues are not settled bilaterally. However, he said, Pakistan would consult its water experts and the Indus Commissioner before making any such move.
On Kalabagh Dam, the foreign minister said work on it could not be started for a lack of national consensus three of the four provinces raised objections to the project. Instead, he said, the government initiated Diamer-Bhasha dam and arranged international financing for it. “There are many advantages of Diamer-Bhasha dam. It will provide water storage and power. Its construction will increase the life of Tarbella Dam. The Korakoram Highway has to be realigned for this purpose and China has offered help in this regard. In fact, its engineers have already started work on it and funding has also been arranged.”On the distribution of water among provinces on the basis of agricultural productivity, he said domestic distribution of water was responsibility of the Indus River System Authority, which was doing it through a cumbersome system.
The foreign minister told the audience that Pakistan entered into an agreement with China and the country's scientists were already here with some new varieties of cotton and rice that could multiply the production by three times.
To solve the energy problem, he said, the government had arranged rental power plants, which would temporarily meet the gap in demand and supply.
On Swat operation, the minister said the government created national consensus on the issue by consulting all stakeholders through the All Parties Conference. He said the war against terrorism could not be won with power alone. Pakistan needed a comprehensive approach covering social, political and military dimensions of the war. He said poverty and illiteracy had to be eradicated from the war zone to win the war.
