The Hindu : Indo-Pak. talks on Indus begin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 29, 2003

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Indo-Pak. talks on Indus begin

By Gargi Parsai

New Delhi May 28. The India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission began its meeting here today with notes being exchanged on the annual report for March 2003. The report, which will be finalised during the meeting, will be submitted to both Governments.

On day one, Pakistan did not raise the Baglihar or the Kishan-Ganga projects in Jammu and Kashmir. Both sides, however, discussed the tours that could be undertaken by technical experts from either side to the sites of the projects under construction.

Stating that the meeting commenced in a ``conducive atmosphere'', the leader of the Pakistan delegation, Jamait Ali Khan, said ``we are trying to ensure that there is no problem in arriving at a decision on the agenda''.

Asked whether Pakistan would insist on having neutral experts on the Baglihar hydro project in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Shah said ``we will see after the meeting''.

India's Commissioner, Indus, A.D. Bhardwaj, said the meeting was spread for three days.

During Indo-Pak talks on the Baglihar project in February, Pakistan had threatened to bring in neutral experts to look into alleged violations of the 1960 Indus Treaty on the Baglihar hydroproject. India has, however, ruled out any need for third party presence.

``There is no violation of the Treaty and the matter can be sorted out mutually with consensus,'' the Minister for Water Resources, Arjun Charan Sethi, had told reporters on the sidelines of a water conference on Tuesday.

The Pakistan delegation had called on the Water Resources Secretary, A.K. Goswami, on Tuesday.

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