Kishanganga talks on: India, Pak turn to Jhelum diversion

With the 450 MW Baglihar dam issue ending up at the World Bank, India and Pakistan are now back to the negotiating table on the Kishanganga ...

With the 450 MW Baglihar dam issue ending up at the World Bank, India and Pakistan are now back to the negotiating table on the Kishanganga Hydropower dam project. Commissioner-level talks started between the two sides today and will conclude tomorrow.

An eight-member Pakistan team, led by Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, is holding talks with Indus Commissioner D.K. Mehta and his group. This is the second round of talks between the two countries on the Kishanganga issue.

Like Baglihar, the Pakistan side has apprehensions over the design of the dam. The two main areas of concern are on the freeboard of the dam and on inter-tributary transfer. Pakistan has expressed apprehensions over the freeboard or the height of the dam. The current height of the dam as per the Indian design is 77 metres, while Pakistan wants it lower.

On the second issue, India’s plan is to divert Kishanganga water back into Jhelum — Kishanganga is a tributary of Jhelum so it is a inter-tributary transfer. Pakistan objects to the construction of the Kishanganga Dam on the grounds that this diversion of water to the Jhelum goes against the tenets of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960. But according to India it does not violate the Treaty.

‘‘We are within our rights,’’ said Mehta, adding: ‘‘The talks are going on in a cordial environment. Pakistan has presented its apprehension and we are discussing it.’’