International

Indus basin water treaty will continue: Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD April 22. Pakistan today denied reports in a section of the local press that the four decade old Indus Basin Water Treaty with India faced the danger of suspension and expressed the hope that the Commissioners on both the sides would soon get an opportunity for a face-to-face to sort out any differences.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan, told a news conference here today that in view of the tensions between India and Pakistan there has been delay in the periodical meeting of the Commissioners of the treaty.

``Failure of the Commissioners on both sides to meet so far does not mean that they would not meet at all. Pakistan has certain apprehensions about irrigation projects contemplated by India that could affect the treaty and would raise them as and when the meeting is held,'' he said.

Mr. Khan said the treaty had worked well in the last 40 years and Pakistan hoped that it would continue without any hindrance in future. There were specific provisions in the treaty for periodic consultations between the two sides on any dispute.

The spokesman said that under the treaty if a dispute could not be resolved at the level of Commissioners, it could be referred to diplomatic channels or a Tribunal.

Mr. Khan was responding to questions on a number of reports in the Pakistan media about the status of the treaty. The Dawn today reported that the treaty will be ``automatically suspended'' if India failed to invite Pakistan for the mandatory May meeting of the treaty.

Quoting sources in the office of Pakistan's Permanent Commissioner for Indus Basin Treaty, it said that both the sides normally started preparations for the meeting by the end of March. But so far, India had neither contacted nor invited Pakistan to the meeting which ``must be held before May 31'' to keep the treaty alive. The meeting is held alternately in India and Pakistan and is scheduled for New Delhi this year.

The paper said that India had already held the treaty in abeyance by ending all contacts with Pakistan since December when the border tension ran high. ``Since then, a pick-and-choose attitude has characterised the Indian policy; it has been transferring routine water data, but has refused to oblige on crucially important flood warnings and status of regulators on Chenab and Jehlum Rivers,'' it said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Indus basin water treaty will continue: Pak.
• Only `escort duties' in Malacca Straits
• Jean-Marie Le Pen does a Haider
• Prince Abdullah's mission impossible
• IRA denies `hit list'
• A decisive victory
• Christian Democrats win State election
• Referendum: SC hears pleas
• Queen's gesture
• Nod for education initiative
• Gujarat families to seek U.K. intervention
• Benazir criticises ARD chief's arrest
• Sri Lanka geared to counter `opposition' to peace process

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu