Just like the water in the Mangla and Tarbela dams, the recent round of talks between the Indus Water Commissions of Pakistan and India have reached dead level. Aimed at removing the many doubts and reservations of both countries — more so by Pakistan — in respect to water distribution, shortage and the construction of controversial new projects — Nimoo Bazgoo and Chutak — the three-day conference produced no significant breakthrough in dispelling these apprehensions.
An annual deliberation since 1960, when the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) was signed, the Indus Water Commissions met this year to address Pakistan’s innate fear that India’s end goal was to cordon off water to the country by constructing hydel generation projects on the rivers Chenab and Jehlum in occupied Kashmir. Pakistani reservations extended to the accusation that India had designed these projects along the lines of the maximum allowed figures as stated in the Indus Water Treaty. This allows the Indians to stay dangerously close to the limits demarcated by the IWT while retaining the potential to manipulate water flows.
See full Article.
Posts
