National

Pak. team arrives for Indus panel meet

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MAY 28. A Pakistani delegation arrived here today for the annual Indus Water Commission meeting. Much significance is being attached to the holding of the meeting at a time when tensions are running high between the two nations.

The three-day meeting begins tomorrow. The last meeting of the Joint Water Commission was held on May 29, 2001 in Pakistan. Apparently, a meeting set for last December was cancelled following the terrorist attack on Parliament on December 13.

Among the ticklish outstanding issues that the commission will discuss shall be the construction of the Bagliar hydropower project in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. The Tulbul navigation project is now outside the ambit of the commission and is one of the pending issues that require political solution.

The commission will take into account any works on the system and any tours that need to be made on either side, besides the flood controlling systems under the framework of the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. It will also finalise the annual report. The Indian side will be led by the Joint Commissioner, Ministry of Water Resources, A.C. Gupta.

The sources in the Water Resources Ministry denied that there was a move to abrogate the treaty, as India had not gained much out of it. The treaty has withstood not only the test of time but also wars between the two countries. Under the treaty, the waters of the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi are utilised by India while those of the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum by Pakistan.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National

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

Stories in this Section

• BJP, Congress reject Musharraf's claim
• War no solution, says Gowda
• A boon and a bane?
• Bajrang Dal leader held for carnage in Gujarat
• Telco denies closing down Patna office
• Amarnath yatra on July 22
• NDA Govt. must go: Laloo
• First injectable male contraceptive developed
• Health Ministry's contingency plan
• Ajmer continues to excel in Class X exam
• Authorities failed to protect people in Gujarat: Amnesty
• Kashmir not negotiable, says Venkaiah Naidu
• Swadeshi - videshi war in Planning Commission
• School dropout made hoax call
• Pak. team arrives for Indus panel meet
• 40 kg. of RDX seized in Doda

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