'India, Pak agree on roadmap for resolving water differences'

M Zulqernain

Lahore, Feb 11 (PTI) India and Pakistan have agreed on
a roadmap for resolving differences over the sharing of river
waters in the next six months, a senior official has said.

Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah
informed the media about the roadmap and said both sides had
decided to hold two additional meetings – one at the end of
March and another in June – for "dispute resolution".
Both meetings will be in addition to the mandatory one
scheduled for May, he said.
Briefing journalists at the conclusion of a five-day
visit by a team led by his Indian counterpart G Ranganathan,
Shah claimed the Indian side had agreed to Pakistan's demand
that all water disputes should be settled within an "agreed
timeframe".
"Indian has agreed that the solution of all water
disputes must be time-bound as open-ended talks become
counter-productive and breed confusion and frustration," he
said.
Pakistan also conveyed its concerns to India,
including worries about "dwindling water supplies in western
rivers", he said. Pakistan was given preferential rights to
the western rivers under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.
"The Indians have been told that reduction in supplies
is affecting water transfer operation," Shah said.

"We also pressed on the Indians that the free flow of
information, as required by the Indus Waters Treaty, should be
made more efficient because obstructions in this regard may
create problems for both sides and for the implementation of
the treaty," Shah said.
The Indus Waters Treaty protects the rights of both
the upper riparian country (India) and lower riparian country
(Pakistan). Both need to stick to their roles for implementing
the pact, he said.
Shah said Pakistan had also asked the Indian side to
take steps to ensure that deforestation and environmental
impact did not affect river flows on their side "as it was
their duty."
The India delegation, during its five-day visit,
inspected four water works on the Ravi and Sutlej rivers and
left for home on Wednesday.
Before leaving for India, G Ranganathan told reporters
that both countries had signed an international treaty which
had an elaborate dispute resolution mechanism.
"Both sides are not only committed to the treaty's
provisions but also regularly invoke different provisions to
resolve disputes," he said.
Ranganathan described his visit as a success and
reiterated that India remained committed to the Treaty and
that it was ready to resolve all disputes within its ambit.
PTI MZ