{"id":4716,"date":"2021-03-23T07:13:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T07:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/odiannews.com\/en\/?p=4716"},"modified":"2021-03-23T07:13:26","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T07:13:26","slug":"indus-commission-annual-meet-india-pakistan-to-hold-talks-on-water-sharing-after-over-2-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/odiannews.com\/en\/4716\/","title":{"rendered":"Indus Commission Annual Meet: India, Pakistan to Hold Talks on Water Sharing After Over 2 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

NewDelhi March 23 : New Delhi:<\/strong>\u00a0India and Pakistan will hold the annual meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission in Delhi after a gap of two years starting tomorrow. A seven-member Pakistani delegation led by the country’s Indus Commissioner Syed Muhammad Meher Ali Shah arrived here on Monday for the annual meeting during which the Indus commissioners of the two countries will hold the annual dialogue on March 23-24. The Indian delegation will be led by PK Saxena who will be joined by his advisors from the Central Water Commission, the Central Electricity Authority and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation.<\/p>\n

The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) warrants the two commissioners to meet at least once a year, alternately in India and Pakistan. However, the last year’s meeting scheduled to be held New Delhi in March was cancelled, a first since the Treaty came into being, in view of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

This year’s meeting will be the first between the two commissioners after the August 2019 nullification of the operative provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The erstwhile state was also carved into two union territories — Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. India has since cleared several hydropower projects for the region.<\/p>\n

Of these, Durbuk Shyok (19 MW), Shankoo (18.5 MW), Nimu Chilling (24 MW), Rongdo (12 MW), Ratan Nag (10.5 MW) are in Leh; while Mangdum Sangra (19 MW), Kargil Hunderman (25 MW) and Tamasha (12 MW) have been cleared for Kargil. India had informed Pakistan about the projects. The issue is expected to come up for discussion during the meeting.<\/p>\n

Pakistan is also likely to raise objections on the design of Indian hydropower projects on Chenab River whose water is largely assigned to Pakistan under the IWT. Ahead of the meeting, Saxena said, “India is committed towards full utilisation of its rights under the Treaty and believes in amicable solution of issues through discussion.”<\/p>\n

In July 2020, India had proposed to Pakistan that the meeting for discussing pending issues pertaining to Indus Water Treaty (IWT) be held virtually in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, but Pakistan insisted on holding talks at the Attari check post. However, in response, the Indus said that it is not conducive to hold the meeting at the Attari.<\/p>\n