When they sit across the table tomorrow with neutral expert Raymond Lafitte to explain their cases on the Baglihar hydro-electric project in Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan will field some of the best in the trade—technical and legal experts—to outdo each other.Pakistan has brought an international consultant hired by the National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK). Peter Joseph Rae, a hydrologist from Canada, has prepared the case for Pakistan. There are reports that Pakistan has spent 12 million dollars to build its case against the Baglihar dam.To match this, India has fielded a German consultant from Lahmeyer International. They have been hired by the J&K State Power Development Corporation to do a design review and assist in contact negotiation. Representing the German consultant is Wolfgang Schwartz, a leading geologist who specialises in hydro-projects.On the legal front, Fali Nariman will argue India’s case while Faizal Hussain Naqvi, who accompanied the team to the project site, will be Pakistan’s counsel.Pakistan has to prove that the dam project actually stores water in a reservoir behind the gated spillways, depriving Pakistan its share of the Chenab waters. In short, it will have to establish that the design violates the spirit of the Indus Water Treaty.India says it is a run-of-the-river project and does not store water in a reservoir. Hence, the design experts have a key role to play. To go into the fine print of the Indus Water Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, would be the job of the legal experts. One operational clause in the treaty says that the flow of the river should not be disturbed.
