Pak may approach WB over issue of water sharing with India

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Apr 30 (PTI) Pakistan Thursday said it was
considering various options, including appointment of a
neutral expert or arbitrator by the World Bank, to resolve
differences with India on sharing of river waters and the
Kishanganga hydropower project in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner wrote a letter to
his Indian counterpart in March (on these issues) but we have
not received a satisfactory answer," Foreign Office spokesman
Abdul Basit said at a weekly news briefing.

Pakistan is now considering various options, including
approaching the World Bank, the guarantor of the Indus Waters
Treaty, to appoint an arbitrator or neutral expert to resolve
differences with India on sharing of river waters and the
Kishanganga project, he said in response to a question.

To another query on the stance of new US administration
on the Kashmir issue, Basit said the "fair resolution of the
longstanding Jammu and Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and
India is vital for viable peace and stability in the region."

Pakistan had been telling its international interlocutors
about the importance of addressing the "underlying causes" of
the Kashmir issue, including political, economic and social
issues, he said.

Kashmir is an issue that "needs to be settled, the sooner
the better," he added.

Asked about statements from Indian leaders about
Pakistan's intentions and capacity to counter terrorism, Basit
described such remarks as "irresponsible". He charged that the
comments reflected "non-serious attitude of India in coming
forward to fight terrorism in cooperation with Pakistan."

Replying to a question on whether President Asif Ali
Zardari would ask his American counterpart Barack Obama during
his upcoming visit to the US to halt drone attacks in
Pakistan's tribal belt, the spokesman said: "We do have the
courage to put across our view points."

Islamabad had already conveyed its concerns that the
drone attacks were "damaging efforts to counter terrorism" and
the issue would be discussed again in the trilateral summit of
the Presidents of Pakistan, US and Afghanistan to be held in
Washington in the first week of May.

Basit said Pakistan had repeatedly made it clear that the
drone attacks were counter-productive and that it had
differences of opinion with the US on this issue.

Though Pakistan had the resolve to fight terrorism, it
did not have enough capacity in the absence of sufficient
helicopters and night vision equipment. Pakistan had been
engaged with the US for capacity building in this regard, he
said. PTI