Pakistan to go for arbitration if India ignores concerns over power projects on Chenab [Update #6]

[Abdullah719]

A nine-member Indian delegation arrived in Lahore on Tuesday for two-day Pakistan-India Perma*nent Indus Commission talks scheduled for August 29-30.

Led by Indian Water Commissioner P K Saxena, the delegation reached the provincial capital through Wagah border for the talks starting tomorrow.

Pakistan Water Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah, who welcomed the Indian delegation at the border, will lead his side during the discussions that will take place at the Lahore headquarters of the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak).

During the two-day talks, Pakistan will reiterate its serious objections over two controversial water storage and hydropower projects being built by India, Dawn reported on Monday.

A government official said Pakistan will raise its concerns over the construction of 1000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on River Chenab despite Islamabad’s serious objections over their designs.

Pakistan has been raising reservations over the designs of the two projects and would like India to either modify the designs to make them compliant to the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty or put the projects on hold until Delhi satisfies Islamabad.

The two sides will also finalise the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners. The water commissioners of Pakistan and India are required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to projects’ sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan has been facing a lot of problems in timely meetings and visits, the official told Dawn.

The two-day session is also expected to discuss ways and means for timely and smooth sharing of hydrological data on shared rivers.

Pakistan's concerns
Both projects — Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai — are on two different tributaries of Chenab river. India had promised in March last year to modify the designs of the two projects and address Pakistan’s concerns but in vain.

Instead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of 1000MW Pakal Dul project in May this year to kickstart the project, without addressing Islamabad’s reservations. According to Indian media reports, the project’s completion is targeted within 66 months with a commitment to provide 12 per cent free of cost electricity to India-held Jammu and Kashmir.

A former water sector official said it was typical Indian style to build projects in violation of the 1960 treaty as was evident from all previous controversial projects like Baglihar and Kishanganga. During execution of these projects, New Delhi engaged Islamabad in technicalities, but kept civil and side works moving for years until reaching the fait accompli stage, when challenged at international forums.

Pakistan has objections to the pondage and freeboard of Lower Kalnai and pondage, filling criteria and spillway of Pakal Dul hydropower projects on Marusadar River — a right bank tributary of the Chenab.

Pakal Dul is a storage-cum-power project and can have gross storage of about 108,000 acre feet of water. The project design envisages its filling every monsoon season between mid-June and end-August.

Pakistan is of the opinion that the tunnel spillway of Pakal Dul should be raised closer to the dead storage level because its placement 40 metres below the dead storage level could allow drawdown flushing not permitted to India under the 1960 water treaty.

Pakal Dul dam-cum-hydropower project is three times larger than Kishan*ganga Hydroelectric Project that Pakistan believes has been built in violation of the treaty. Islamabad is seeking international arbitration without success at the level of intransigent World Bank administration.

On the 48MW Lower Kalnai project, Pakistan has raised objections to its freeboard, pondage and intake and is of the view that the depth of bridge girder and provision of freeboard should be close to one metre and considers two-metre freeboard as ‘excessive’.

Pakistan has also challenged the discharge series of River Lower Kalnai at Dunadi for winter months and estimated permissible pondage of 0.38 cubic megametres compared to Indian design pondage of 2.74 cubic megametres.

The Lower Kalnai project is on a left bank tributary of Chenab and can have gross storage of about 1,508 acre feet of water.

Under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, waters of the eastern rivers — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi — had been allocated to India and the western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — to Pakistan, except for certain non-consumptive uses for India.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1429489/9...-lahore-for-two-day-water-talks-with-pakistan

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Pakistan’s biggest problem when it comes to water management isn’t India. The bigger problem is it’s own incompetence and internal bickering when it comes to these hydro projects that they should be building - some are taking decades to get off the ground.

Hope these talks are fruitful but if Pakistan doesn’t act now when it comes to water management then it will face a precarious situation in years to come.

Of course instead of taking solid action it’s far easier to blame the evil Indians for your water troubles.

The World Bank is always there to make sure no one breaches the treaty and appropriate alterations are made if needed. If Pakistan doesn’t agree with this why not withdraw from the treaty?

 

[B_Positive]

Pakistan’s biggest problem when it comes to water management isn’t India. The bigger problem is it’s own incompetence and internal bickering when it comes to these hydro projects that they should be building - some are taking decades to get off the ground.

Hope these talks are fruitful but if Pakistan doesn’t act now when it comes to water management then it will face a precarious situation in years to come.

Of course instead of taking solid action it’s far easier to blame the evil Indians for your water troubles.

The World Bank is always there to make sure no one breaches the treaty and appropriate alterations are made if needed. If Pakistan doesn’t agree with this why not withdraw from the treaty?

They cant. It will mean waging a war.

 

[MenInG]

https://www.geo.tv/latest/209019-pa...of-indian-hydropower-projects-on-chenab-river

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday objected to two controversial water storage and hydropower projects undertaken by India on Chenab River, in the first round of talks between the two countries over the violation of Indus Waters Treaty.

The first round of talks between officials of the two countries concluded in Islamabad this evening.

Pakistani officials informed the Indian delegates that they had objections over the design of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydropower plants, demanding a reduction in height of Pakal Dul Dam by 5 metres.

They also demanded elevating gates of Pakal Dul spillway 40 metres further above the sea-level and clarifying the procedure of leaving water from the reservoir.

Since 2013, the two countries have held talks on these projects at least seven times. The second round of ongoing talks would be held on Thursday.

The nine-member Indian delegation at the talks was headed by Indian Water Commissioner PK Saxena, which reached Pakistan via Wagah border a day earlier.

The Pakistani delegation was headed by Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Meher Ali Shah.

The projects undertaken by India on Chenab River violate the Indus Waters Treaty signed between the two countries.

Earlier, officials confirmed that India wanted to place spillway of 1,000 megawatts of Pakal Dul Dam on Chenab River in Indian-occupied Kashmir, about 15 metres down against the permissible limit, which will give the country undue leverage of holding 11,000 acres of feet water in addition to allowed volume of water storage, The News reported.

India wanted to establish water storage capacity of 88,000 acre feet on Chenab River with the setting up of Pakal Dul Dam.

Pakal Dul Dam is a reservoir-based scheme currently under construction on river Marusudar, the main right bank tributary of Chenab River in Kishtwar tehsil of Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir.

The lower Kalnai project is of 48 megawatts on another tributary of the river.

 

[PakLFC]

Pak does not know how to save water. We can't blame India for everything. There will be shortage of water when you don't build dam's.

 

[Abdullah719]

Pakistan to go for arbitration if India ignores concerns

LAHORE: Pakistan on Wednesday urged India to entertain the objections it has raised over the construction of the 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnal hydropower projects on the River Chenab.

It conveyed in categorical terms to the visiting Indian team that Islamabad would approach the international forums defined in the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in case New Delhi failed to accept the requests as narrated in the detailed objections.

“We have categorically made it clear that we will have no option but to use international forums — appointment of neutral experts, taking the case to international court of arbitration, etc — in case India failed to address our concerns that are absolutely genuine and can be resolved amicably,” one of the officials of the Pakistani side told Dawn after conclusion of the first round of the two-day dialogue which began here between the Pakistan-India delegations headed by the commissioners for Indus waters of the two countries.

Islamabad’s objections to transgressions in construction of power projects on Chenab river conveyed during water talks

The nine-member team led by Indian commissioner Pradeep Kumar Saxena had arrived on Tuesday for talks with their Pakistani counterparts on water disputes on the platform of the Pakistan-India Permanent Commission for Indus Waters.

In the first round of talks, Pakistan’s commissioner Syed Mohammad Mehr Ali Shah raised the objections, possible solutions to the problem, India’s previous replies, feedback, etc. He told the Indian side that the objections raised were based on facts and must be resolved under the provisions of the IWT.

“We once again presented our stance effectively on technical and logical grounds and they (India) had no logic to reject it. Finally the Indian delegation sought to discuss the issues in detail in the second round of the talks scheduled to be held on Thursday (today),” the official privy to the meeting claimed.

“The Indian side assured the Pakistani side of taking up the issues in the next meeting of the commission to be held in India,” he added.

According to another official, Pakistani authorities asked the Indians to reduce the height of the Pakal Dul’s reservoir up to five metres. “The authorities also urged India to maintain 40-metre height above sea level while making spillways’ gates of the Pakal Dul project besides clarifying the pattern and mechanism for the water storage and releases. Similarly Pakistan raised some technical concerns over design of the the Lower Kalnal hydropower project, requesting India to address them at the earliest,” he said.

On the other hand, the country’s former commissioner for Indus waters Syed Jamat Ali Shah termed the talks a futile exercise to resolve such issues under the IWT. “We had raised objections over the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnal projects in 2012. Later these were discussed once in a meeting held in 2014 and now it is 2018. You can judge well India’s ‘interest and seriousness’ to address our concerns,” he deplored while talking to Dawn.

He criticised India for paying meagre attention to Pakistan’s concerns. “It is 2018. And they have already started construction work on these projects,” he claimed.

Mr Shah also blamed the Pakistani government for not convincing the international forums of its genuine concerns due to lack of lobbying. “It is a dire need of the hour for Pakistan to not see the water-related issues within the ambit of the Treaty alone, as it must start talks with India at a very high level seriously. We must convey to them clearly that we will not allow you to use water of the rivers that are ours under the Treaty,” he said.

Mr Shah urged the government to immediately set up a high-level committee comprising water experts having capacity for lobbying at the international level.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1429875/pakistan-to-go-for-arbitration-if-india-ignores-concerns

 

[Varun]

Pak does not know how to save water. We can't blame India for everything. There will be shortage of water when you don't build dam's.

Interesting. A quick Google search reveals:

No. of dams in India = 3200
No. of dams in Pakistan = 271

Even accounting for the difference in size, that tells the story.

 

[BlackShadow]

Interesting. A quick Google search reveals:

No. of dams in India = 3200
No. of dams in Pakistan = 271

Even accounting for the difference in size, that tells the story.

These are numbers from 2012. India has been on a dam building spree since then, and the total number of large dams was around 5300 in 2015. I don't know numbers since then, but pace has only picked up and for many years now we have had world's highest number of dams "under-construction". Won't be surprised if we are approaching 8000 by now.

https://www.livemint.com/Politics/J5HAuWKfAUFVX5UyMWFtYN/How-many-dams-does-India-need.html


Pakistan had around 150 large dams in 2012, so I am guessing that their numbers too must have more than doubled at least. What year was it for your quoted number?

 

[Varun]

These are numbers from 2012. India has been on a dam building spree since then, and the total number of large dams was around 5300 in 2015. I don't know numbers since then, but pace has only picked up and for many years now we have had world's highest number of dams "under-construction". Won't be surprised if we are approaching 8000 by now.

https://www.livemint.com/Politics/J5HAuWKfAUFVX5UyMWFtYN/How-many-dams-does-India-need.html


Pakistan had around 150 large dams in 2012, so I am guessing that their numbers too must have more than doubled at least. What year was it for your quoted number?

Oops, forgot to check. I just Googled and copy-pasted the numbers.

 

[Zeeraq]

Pakistani experts to inspect two Indian hydropower project sites

LAHORE: India agreed on Thursday to get sites of its two hydropower projects — 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnal — inspected by Pakistani experts by the end of next month. It also assured Pakistan of taking up its objections/concerns over the two projects seriously by resolving them amicably in the light of technical memorandums to be prepared and exchanged by the two countries in the next meeting to be held in New Delhi.

“The major breakthrough of the two-day talks held in Lahore is that India has agreed to get the projects’ sites visited by our experts. Therefore, our team comprising experts will visit the sites in India by the end of next month,” Water Resource Secretary Shamail Ahmad Khawaja told Dawn.

“During the visit, our experts will minutely examine the sites, construction in the light of the provisions of Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and the objections raised by Pakistan to the aforementioned projects being executed by India over the Chenab River,” he added.

Both delegations headed by Pakistani and Indian commissioners for Indus waters resumed talks on day two, reiterating their stance over construction of the projects. The Indian side led by Pradeep Kumar Saxena reviewed Pakistan’s objections minutely. It also presented its point of view amid justification in response to the objections.

Agreement reached in two-day water talks held in Lahore

The Pakistani side led by Commissioner for Indus Water Syed Mohammad Mehr Ali Shah continued defending its stance, requesting the Indian delegation to address the issues as sought. However, it was mutually decided that both countries would separately prepare technical memorandums based on their point of view and possible solutions.

“We think that we have succeeded in convincing India to address our issues since we don’t want to see any disruption in the flows of our rivers by anyone under the IWT.

“That is why they (Indians) have seriously reviewed our objections once again. And finally during the second round of the two-day talks, which concluded in Lahore on Thursday, it has been decided that both the countries would prepare technical memorandums separately on the issue and exchange the same with each other during the next meeting to be held within next three to four months,” Mr Khawaja, who is supposed to oversee the country’s water-related issues and projects, including the IWT, explained.

He claimed that the next round of the talks — which would be held in India between the two countries — would be the final and conclusive in connection with discussions over Pakistan’s concerns. “Resumption of talks between Pakistan and India — which have been suspended since 2014 — in March and August indicates some positive things. We hope that India would surely respect the IWT by considering our objections through an amicable solution in the next meeting,” he believed.

According to an official privy to the meeting, the two countries stick to their stances on the issue. Both the countries reiterated their stance in the meeting. However, the Indian delegation finally responded to Pakistan’s demand for looking into this issue in the next meeting, he told Dawn.

The official said the Joint Commissioner for Indus Waters also raised objections over heading the Pakistani side by Commissioner Mehr Ali Shah on the very first day before commencement of the talks. “Actually Joint Commissioner Sheraz Jameel Memon was of the view that he should lead the Pakistan side while conducting the meeting with the Indian delegation since Mr Shah was heading the department on additional charge for a period of three months. But when Mr Memon reached there to head the Pakistani team, he came to know that Mr Shah succeeded in getting extension in his additional charge of office. So he returned to office,” the official explained.

He said Pakistan’s demands included reduction of the height of Pakal Dul’s reservoir up to five metres, maintenance of 40-metre height above sea level while making spillways’ gates of the Pakal Dul project, besides clarifying the pattern and mechanism for the water storage and releases and some technical concerns over design of the Lower Kalnal hydropower project.

Earlier, both the Pakistani and Indian sides avoided the media gathered since morning outside the head office of Nespak in Lahore. Though the media tried to convince the staff for access to the talks, the officials didn’t agree. “We inform you all that we would neither brief you nor issue a joint statement regarding the talks,” an official told journalists. At this, the media persons protested over the officials’ attitude, asking the authorities to reveal the outcome of the talks to the nation.

On the other hand, former commissioner for Indus water Syed Jamat Ali Shah expressed reservations over the behavior of Pakistani and Indian sides. “They should have briefed the media since there is no secret. Our nation must know the facts,” he said.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1430051/pakistani-experts-to-inspect-two-indian-hydropower-project-sites

 

[cricketjoshila]

Will any kind hearted admin please paste this news report here?

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/m.ti...dus-waters-talks/amp_articleshow/65622318.cms

India refutes Pak's spin on just-concluded Indus Waters talks

NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Friday that India and Pakistan agreed to undertake mandated tours of each other's hydropower projects on the Indus, even as the Pakistani press reported the agreement as referring to the inspection of only India's projects.

The MEA's statement comes a day after the conclusion of the two-day talks held between Pakistani and Indian commissioners for Indus waters and projects on the Indus basin. Both countries are signatories of the Indus Waters Treaty.

"Technical discussions were held on implementation of various hydroelectric projects including Pakal Dul (1000 MW) and Lower Kalnai(48 MW) in Jammu & Kashmir. Both the countries agreed to undertake the Treaty mandated tours of both the Indus Commissioners in Indus basin on both sides," said the MEA.

However, Pakistan's water resources officials, per the Pakistani press, appear to have focussed only his own country's inspection of Indian projects which he referred to as "a major breakthrough".

"The major breakthrough of the two-day talks held in Lahore is that India has agreed to get the projects' sites visited by our experts. Therefore, our team comprising experts will visit the sites in India by the end of next month," said Pakistan's water resource secretary Shamail Ahmad Khawaja to Dawn.

And while India said no such thing, Pakistan's commissioner for Indus waters appeared to think Islamabad has "succeeded in convincing India to address our issues."

In fact, Pakistani sources told India's news agency PTI that India rejected Pakistan's objections on its two hydropower projects on the Chenab river, the 1,000MW Pakal Dul dam and 48MW Lower Kalnal hydropower projects.

"India has hinted at continuation of work on both the hydropower projects," he said. "Pakistan may approach the international forums defined in the Indus Waters Treaty over New Delhi's refusal to accept the requests as narrated in the detailed objections," the Pakistani official told PTI.

In fact, Pakistani sources told India's news agency PTI on Thursday that India rejected Pakistan's objections on its two hydropower projects on the Chenab river,the 1,000MW Pakal Dul dam and 48MW Lower Kalnal hydropower projects.

"India has hinted at continuation of work on both the hydropower projects," he said. "Pakistan may approach the international forums defined in the Indus Waters Treaty over New Delhi's refusal to accept the requests as narrated in the detailed objections," the Pakistani official told PTI.

Pakistan's official spin to its media was different.

"During the visit, our experts will minutely examine the sites, construction in the light of the provisions of Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and the objections raised by Pakistan to the aforementioned projects being executed by India over the Chenab River," aid Pakistan's water secretary.

However, the Pakistani side had no choice but to say that both countries mutually decided they would separately prepare technical memorandums based on their points of view and possible solutions on the difference on the 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnal .
The 115th meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission was held in Lahore, Pakistan from August 29-30, 2018. The Indian delegation was led by PK Saxena, the Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters.

The talks were the first official engagement between India and Pakistan since Khan became prime minister on August 18.

The last meeting of the Pakistan-India Permanent Indus Commission was held in New Delhi in March during which both the sides had shared details of the water flow and the quantum of water being used under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

In May, the World Bank said it could not reach an agreement with Pakistan to address its concerns regarding the Indus Waters Treaty with India after two-days of talks in Washington. This was days after India inaugurated the Kishanganga hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir.

A high-powered Pakistani delegation led by its attorney general Ashtar Ausaf Ali met with World Bank chief executive Kristalina Georgieva and other senior officials at the time.

During the meetings, held at Pakistan's request to discuss issues regarding the Indus Waters Treaty and opportunities within the treaty to seek an amicable resolution, "several procedural options" for resolving the disagreement over the interpretation of the treaty's provisions were discussed, the Bank said.

"While an agreement on the way forward was not reached at the conclusion of the meetings, the World Bank will continue to work with both countries to resolve the issues in an amicable manner and in line with the treaty provisions," the Bank said in a statement at the end of the talks.

"The delegation of the Government of Pakistan also shared with the Bank their concerns about the recent inauguration of the Kishanganga hydroelectric plant," the statement said.

In May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 330 MW Kishanganga hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan had protested the inauguration claiming that the project on a river flowing into Pakistan will disrupt water supplies.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...d-indus-waters-talks/articleshow/65622318.cms

 

[noonebetterthanPappu]

Will any kind hearted admin please paste this news report here?

https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/m.ti...dus-waters-talks/amp_articleshow/65622318.cms

Lol...i read somewhere Pakistan allowed to inspect Indian dams and this big breakthrough..looks like its a mandated requirement for both sides.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Thank you [MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION]

 

[Gabbar Singh]

India announce another project on the river Chenab. Folks at the World Bank better get ready for another round of adjudication.

The Centre on Wednesday decided to go ahead with the long-pending 850 megawatt Ratle hydroelectric power project on the river Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, despite objections raised by the Pakistan government over the same.
J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said the approval for the Rs 5,822 crore project came at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day.
To be built near Drabshalla village in Kishtwar, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone for the project on June 25, 2013. However, the Pakistan government had objected to the construction of the dam, claiming that it was not in conformity with the Indus Water Treaty.
In August 2017, the World Bank allowed India to construct the dam and the following year, the erstwhile state government approached the Centre with a proposal to resume construction.
Accordingly, an MoU was signed between the National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC) and the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Limited (JKSPDCL) in the presence of Modi at Vijaypur in Samba district on February 3, 2019 and work on the project began in December 2019.

Pakistan has approached the World Bank with fresh protests, but the Centre has now decided to go ahead with the construction.
On Wednesday, L-G Sinha said the project will be a joint venture between the NHPC and the JKSPDC having an equity of 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, and will be completed in five years.
The JKSPDCL equity will be paid by the Centre, he said.
The L-G said the power share of J&K from the project will start from 8 per cent and increase to 12 per cent in the 12th year. “It will be the first hydel power project in the country from which we will start getting power from the day it gets commissioned,” he said.
“If calculated in terms of money, Jammu and Kashmir will get electricity worth Rs 5,289 crore free of cost,” he said, adding that the Union Territory will also get water usage charges worth Rs 9,581 crore over a period of 40 years.
The L-G said the project will generate direct and indirect jobs for 4,000 people in addition to the 2,000 jobs created directly and indirectly in the commissioning of the 540 MW Kwar hydroelectric power project on the Chenab, the MoU for which was signed recently.

https://indianexpress.com/article/i...-project-despite-pakistan-objections-7155113/

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.dawn.com/news/1613516/talks-on-indus-waters-in-delhi-next-week

An eight-member delegation of Pakistan’s Commission on Indus Waters will leave for New Delhi on Monday for a two-day meeting of the Permanent Commission on Indus Waters to discuss with their Indian counterparts Pakistan’s objections to the design of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydroelectric plants/projects and other issues.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The last meeting took place in August 2018 in Lahore. Officials said the gap between the two meetings was caused by the coronavirus pandemic. After the 2018 meeting, a Pakistani delegation was invited by India to inspect the sites of the hydroelectric projects being constructed by India on Pakistani rivers.

An official, however, claimed that in addition to the pandemic, India’s unilateral decision to change the special status of occupied Kashmir was another factor responsible for the long gap between the two meetings.

The next week’s meeting is seen as an important development in the wake of recent statements by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in which they reiterated Pakistan’s position on relationship with India and called for resolution of the disputes through dialogues. Both the Pakistani leaders have nonetheless asked India to take the first step by agreeing to resolve the Kashmir issue according to the wishes of its people.

The Pakistani delegation will be led by Indus Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah and that of India by his counterpart P.K. Saxena.

According to agenda of the meeting, the Pakistani delegation comprising officials of the Indus Water Commission, Water and Power Development Authority, Attorney General Office, Meteorology, Irrigation and other departments concerned, would discuss Pakistan’s objections to the design of 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric plants (HEP), supply of information/data of the new projects by India on western rivers, flood data arrangements for the forthcoming flood season, programmes of meetings and tours of the commission, two recent new run-of-river hydroelectric plants — 19MW Durbuk and 24MW Nimu-Chilling — and any other issue with the mutual consent of both the commissioners.

“Under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), at least one meeting of the Permanent Commission on Indus Waters should be held each year alternately in India and Pakistan. However, we can have more meetings each year since the treaty doesn’t bind us in this regard. Moreover, the tours/inspections from both sides are also paid by both sides to various sites,” Pakistan’s commissioner explained. “We will not visit to any project site, as we will only have meeting with our counterpart in India,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office, while confirming the Delhi meeting, said that under the provisions of the IWT 1960, said the Permanent Indus Commission was required to meet at least once a year. However, the meetings could not be held regularly because of tensions between the two countries, it added.

“A host of issues under the Treaty, including our objections to the designs of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydroelectric plants, supply of information on new Indian projects on the western rivers and supply of flood data by India, will be discussed,” the FO spokesman said at a briefing.

The construction of controversial Pakal Dul Dam is currently under way on a tributary of the River Chenab by the Indian authorities in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.

In last meeting held in Lahore in August 2018, Pakistan had urged India to entertain the objections it had raised over the construction of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydropower projects on Chenab. It conveyed in categorical terms to the visiting Indian team that Islamabad would approach the international forums defined in the IWT in case New Delhi failed to accept the requests as narrated in the detailed objections. Pakistan also made it clear that it would have no option but to use international forums — appointment of neutral experts, taking the case to international court of arbitration, etc — in case India failed to address its concerns that were absolutely genuine and could be resolved amicably.

Pakistani authorities had also asked the Indians to reduce the height of Pakal Dul’s reservoir up to five metres, maintain 40-metre height above sea level while making spillways’ gates of this project, besides clarifying the pattern and mechanism for the water storage and releases.

Similarly, Pakistan raised some technical concerns over the design of the Lower Kalnai hydropower project, requesting India to address them at the earliest.

Finally, India agreed to get the sites of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai projects inspected by Pakistani experts. It also assured Pakistan of taking up its objections/concerns over the two projects seriously by resolving them amicably in the light of technical memorandums to be prepared and exchanged by the two countries in the next meeting to be held in New Delhi.

Later in February 2019, Pakistani experts headed by the Commissioner on Indus Waters had inspected four hydropower projects at Chenab basin in India, including Pakal Dul, Lower Kalnai, 850MW Ratlay and 900MW Baglihar dams. The construction work on Pakal Dul dam, which was earlier stopped, had resumed at that time.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-pakistan/india-pakistan-detente-continues-with-water-sharing-talks-idUSKBN2BE1IN

India and Pakistan are to hold the first meeting in three years on Tuesday of a commission on water rights from the Indus River in a further sign of rapprochement in relations frozen since 2019 during disputes over Kashmir. The Permanent Indus Commission, set up in 1960, will meet for two days in New Delhi, according to two Indian officials involved with water issues and Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

Pakistan will raise objections to the technical designs of India’s planned Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydroelectric plants, Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said.

The Indus River, one of the world’s largest, and its tributaries feed 80 percent of Pakistan’s irrigated agriculture.

The talks are the latest in both nations’ tentative efforts to re-engage after a 2019 suicide bomb in Indian Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based guerrillas and India’s move later that year to strip Kashmir’s constitutional autonomy.

Both nations are now focussed on coping with unprecedented economic downturns due to COVID-19.

Bloomberg news agency and Foreign Policy magazine have reported that the United Arab Emirates, with whom both India and Pakistan have close ties, may have played a role in secret efforts to achieve a detente.

Last month, India and Pakistan announced a rare agreement to stop firing on the bitterly-contested Kashmir border, which Bloomberg said was also the result of UAE-brokered talks.

There was no immediate comment from India, Pakistan or the UAE to the Bloomberg report out on Monday.

At the water-sharing talks, both sides are expected to try and narrow differences over the hydro-projects, Indian officials said.

One of the Indian officials, who asked to remain unidentified, said the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai projects along with a couple of others - which Pakistan is concerned would hurt the flow of water downstream - were in line with the provisions of the treaty.

“We will discuss to allay those objections, we believe in an amicable resolution,” the official said.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.dawn.com/news/1614202/talks-begin-on-indias-disputed-hydropower-projects

Pakistan and India began their first talks under the Permanent Indus Commission in two and a half years in New Delhi on Tuesday to resolve the longstanding dispute over the hydroelectric projects India is building on the River Chenab.

Reuters news agency quoted an Indian official as playing down prospects for a “breakthrough” in the ongoing talks. Pakistan’s delegation could not be contacted for its comments despite several attempts by Dawn.

Pakistan is concerned that India’s plans for hydroelectric plants — Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai dams — on the Chenab in the disputed region of Kashmir would damage the flow of the river into its territory.

On the other hand, India defends the construction of the dams by saying they are allowed by the Indus Water Treaty brokered by the World Bank.

“It is our job to find a middle path. But to say we can achieve something is maybe a bit too optimistic,” an Indian official involved in the talks told Reuters. “There are many things on which we can’t compromise,” he added.

The talks are set to end on Wednesday (today).

In recent weeks, the two countries have taken some tentative steps like resumption of a ceasefire on the Line of Control to improve ties and conciliatory gestures made by both sides. Pakistan’s Indus Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah, who is leading the country’s eight-member team, could not be contacted despite attempts as his cell phone remained switched off.

It is the first meeting after India revoked the special status of occupied Kashmir in August 2019, and after a military standoff between the two countries earlier that year in the wake of India’s transgression of Pakistan’s airspace in which the former lost two of its combat aircraft.

The last meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission under the World Bank-brokered Indus Water Treaty was held in Lahore in August 2018.

The Treaty allows India unrestricted use of waters of three eastern rivers — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi. The waters of three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — have been assigned to Pakistan though India is allowed to partially use the waters for generating hydroelectricity through run-of-the-river projects. Pakistan, however, can object to the projects if it fears that they may enable India to use water for other than hydroelectricity generation purposes and thus cause water scarcity downstream.

Under an agreement reached in 1989 between the two neighbouring states, New Delhi is also required to share data about flood situations in all the rivers in advance so that Islamabad may take precautionary measures accordingly to protect life and property of its citizens.

“We have reservations on the designs shared by India of various hydroelectric projects, including 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai it is building on Chenab river against the criteria set for design and operations of the projects in the Indus Water Treaty, M. H. Siddiqui, a former member of Permanent Indus Commission from Pakistan, told Dawn.

Durbuk Shyok (19MW), Shankoo (18.5MW), Nimu Chilling (24MW), Rongdo (12MW), Ratan Nag (10.5MW) in Leh and Mangdum Sangra (19MW), Kargil Hunderman (25MW) and Tamasha (12MW) in Kargil are other Indian hydroelectric projects Pakistan will discuss in the meeting.

“India has been sharing flood situations in all the rivers with us since 1989. But, their cooperation level went down during the last couple years and Pakistani team will surely take up this issue too with its Indian counterpart in the ongoing talks,” Mr Siddiqui said.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2291435/pakistan-india-vow-to-make-endeavours-to-resolve-water-issues

A day after the conclusion of the two-day talks of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) of Pakistan and India, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Thursday said that both sides agreed to make endeavours to resolve the issues, conduct tours of inspection and hold the next meeting of the commission in Pakistan at an early date.

The meeting was the first since August 2018, although it was supposed to take place in 2019. The official explanation said the annual meeting could not take place because of the Covid-19 pandemic but sources told The Express Tribune that it also had to do with the deepening tensions between the two countries after India unilaterally revoked the special status of the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) in August 2019.

The meeting of the PIC is being linked to the renewed push by the two sides to seek rapprochement. The joint statement issued after the talks indicated that the two sides tried to send a positive message."The 116th meeting of the India-Pakistan PIC was held in New Delhi from 23-24 March, 2021. Under the relevant provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the meeting is held annually alternately in Pakistan and India," the MoFA statement said.

The Pakistan side was led by Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah, Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters, it added.

It said that host of issues related to the IWT were discussed during the meeting. "Pakistan side reiterated its objections to the Indian projects including Pakal Dul, Lower Kulnai, Durbuk Shyok and Nimu Chilling."

MoFA said that Pakistan side also urged the Indian side to share data of water flows as per the provisions of the IWT following the practice in vogue since 1989. "Pakistan side emphasised the importance of early resolution of the outstanding issues in accordance with the provisions of the IWT."

Both sides agreed to make endeavours to resolve the issues, conduct tours of inspection and hold the next meeting of the Commission in Pakistan at an early date, the statement further said. Tensions between the two countries have been on the mend since Pakistan and India agreed to restore the 2003 ceasefire understanding on February 25.

Following the agreement between the director general military operations, the two countries also decided to lower rhetoric in order to create a better environment for further steps.

Both Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently sounded conciliatory towards India. While Prime Minister Imran said India would have to take the first step, the army chief maintained that it was time to “bury the past and move forward.”

It is expected that the two countries will take gradual steps to normalise ties. The next possible move may include the restoration of diplomatic ties to the level of ambassadors.

Pakistan had expelled the Indian high commissioner while recalled its envoy from New Delhi after India abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Restoration of trade could also be another step.