Pakistan-Indian Talks End with No Agreement on Disputed Indian Dam
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- Indian and Pakistani officials ended talks having failed to resolve differences over an Indian plan to build a dam in its portion of Kashmir that Pakistan fears will deprive it of water. Foreign ministry and energy officials from Pakistan and India recently met in Islamabad to discuss India's plans for the dam on Wular Lake in Kashmir, a Himalayan region divided between the two countries. The Foreign Ministry said the "talks were held in (a) cordial and constructive atmosphere."
"It was agreed that the discussions would continue at the next round of the dialogue process with a view to finding a solution to the issue," the ministry said in a statement. "I think when you talk like this, you talk in an atmosphere of understanding and you (are) taking few steps forward," state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted the head of Indian delegation at the talks, V. K. Duggal, as saying. No date was given for future talks on the dam. India stopped constructing the dam in 1980s following complaints by Pakistan. If completed, the dam would control the flow of water into the Jehlum River that enters Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and irrigates farmlands downstream in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province. Pakistan fears the dam will deprive its farmers of water in Punjab, considered to be the country's food basket. Pakistani officials have said construction of the dam also violates an agreement on the distribution of river waters between them. Under the Indus Water Treaty, the two countries signed in 1960, India was given control over the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers, while Pakistan was awarded the Jehlum, Indus and Chenab. Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, including two over the Himalayan region of Kashmir that each claim belongs to it.
Reprinted with permission from U.S. Water News, www.uswaternews.com
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- Indian and Pakistani officials ended talks having failed to resolve differences over an Indian plan to build a dam in its portion of Kashmir that Pakistan fears will deprive it of water. Foreign ministry and energy officials from Pakistan and India recently met in Islamabad to discuss India's plans for the dam on Wular Lake in Kashmir, a Himalayan region divided between the two countries. The Foreign Ministry said the "talks were held in (a) cordial and constructive atmosphere."
"It was agreed that the discussions would continue at the next round of the dialogue process with a view to finding a solution to the issue," the ministry said in a statement. "I think when you talk like this, you talk in an atmosphere of understanding and you (are) taking few steps forward," state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted the head of Indian delegation at the talks, V. K. Duggal, as saying. No date was given for future talks on the dam. India stopped constructing the dam in 1980s following complaints by Pakistan. If completed, the dam would control the flow of water into the Jehlum River that enters Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and irrigates farmlands downstream in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province. Pakistan fears the dam will deprive its farmers of water in Punjab, considered to be the country's food basket. Pakistani officials have said construction of the dam also violates an agreement on the distribution of river waters between them. Under the Indus Water Treaty, the two countries signed in 1960, India was given control over the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers, while Pakistan was awarded the Jehlum, Indus and Chenab. Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, including two over the Himalayan region of Kashmir that each claim belongs to it.
Reprinted with permission from U.S. Water News, www.uswaternews.com