India-Pak rift on Indus Water Treaty
New Delhi, Jan 21: A World Bank-appointed neutral expert has backed New Delhi’s position on the framework to resolve certain disputes between India and Pakistan on Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects.
While India has been pressing for resolution of the issues by the neutral expert as mandated under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) between the two countries, Pakistan has been backing the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to resolve them.
India and Pakistan signed IWT on September 19, 1960 after nine years of negotiations with a sole aim to manage issues relating to cross-border rivers.
India welcomed the ruling by the neutral expert, International Commission of Large Dams president Michel Lino.
On Monday, Lino ruled that he is competent to render a decision on the “merits of the Points of Difference” between India and Pakistan on the two hydropower projects.
“India welcomes the decision given by the Neutral Expert under Paragraph 7 of Annexure F to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
“The decision upholds and vindicates India’s stand that all seven questions that were referred to the neutral expert, in relation to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects, are differences falling within his competence under the treaty,” it said on Tuesday.
In 2015, Pakistan sought the appointment of the neutral expert to deal with its objections to the two projects. However, a year later, Islamabad demanded that the objections be handled by the court of arbitration.
India has been cooperating with the neutral expert but stayed away from proceedings of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
New Delhi considers the start of the two concurrent processes to resolve the dispute a violation of the provision of the graded mechanism prescribed in the IWT.
“It has been India’s consistent and principled position that the neutral expert alone has the competence under the treaty to decide these differences,” the MEA said in a statement.
“Having upheld his own competence, which comports with India’s view, the neutral expert will now proceed to the next (merits) phase of his proceeding,” it said.
The MEA said this phase will culminate in a final decision on the merits of each of the seven differences.
“Being committed to preserving the sanctity and integrity of the treaty, India will continue to participate in the neutral expert process so that the differences are resolved in a manner consistent with the provisions of the treaty, which does not provide for parallel proceedings on the same set of issues,” it said.
“For this reason, India does not recognize or participate in the illegally constituted Court of Arbitration proceedings,” it added.
The MEA said India and Pakistan also remain in touch on the matter of modification and review of the Indus Water Treaty. (PTI)