Pak delegation to visit India next week for dialogue on water issues

A five-member Pakistani delegation will visit India next week for talks on the water dispute between the two countries, according to a media report on Saturday.

The talks will be held in New Delhi from May 30-31, the Dawn newspaper quoted Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Mehr Ali Shah as saying.

The delegation would make the trip through the Wagah Border.

"There will be talks on the sharing of flood forecast data while the PCIW (Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Water) annual report will also be discussed during the negotiations," Shah said.

He said the Pakistani delegation will not visit under construction Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai dams but those and other projects will come under discussion.

In March, India and Pakistan had reiterated their commitment to implement the Indus Waters Treaty in its true spirit and expressed the hope that the next meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission would be held at an early date in India.

Under the relevant provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty, the meeting takes place alternatively in Pakistan and India annually.