Pak to approach World Bank over water dispute with India

Pakistan has decided to approach the World Bank to request the appointment of a neutral expert to resolve a dispute with India over the Kishanganga hydro electric project if bilateral efforts fail to settle the matter, according to a media report.

After failing to resolve the dispute through the Indus Waters Commission, the federal government has directed the Foreign Office to initiate the process of requesting the appointment of a neutral expert as stipulated in the Indus Waters Treaty, the Daily Times newspaper quoted an official document as saying.

Under the treaty, the western tributaries of the Indus river were allocated to Pakistan though an article of the pact allows India to use these waters for hydropower generation. Official sources told the newspaper that the Pakistan government will try to solve the dispute bilaterally during secretary-level talks.

They said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had already said Pakistan would discuss the dispute over sharing of river waters with India. The Pakistan government is not anticipating “any leeway” from India and has thus finalised preparations to request the appointment of a neutral expert to resolve the matter, the sources were quoted as saying.

Both countries previously settled their differences on the Baglihar project through the arbitration of a neutral expert. The dispute over the Kishanganga project started when India announced plans for a reservoir with a storage capacity of 0.14 MAF in 1994.

This prompted Pakistan to object to the design and the diversion of flow from one of the tributaries of the Jhelum river.