No movement in Kishenganga talks

The Kishenganga talks between India and Pakistan turned out to be inconclusive, even as both sides prepare to meet the World Bank’s neu...

The Kishenganga talks between India and Pakistan turned out to be inconclusive, even as both sides prepare to meet the World Bank’s neutral expert Raymond Lafitte on the Baglihar Hydropower Project in Paris next week.

The talks on the 330 MW Kishenganga Hydropower Project were cut short because the Pakistan team had to rush back to prepare for the next week’s meeting.

Indus Water Commisioner D.K. Mehta, holding talks from the Indian side, said the talks were ‘‘positive’’.

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India and Pakistan will jointly meet Lafitte in Paris for a two day meeting starting on June 9. ‘‘We are going to Paris. They (World Bank) will decide on the modalities and procedure at the two-day meeting,’’ said Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner, Syed Jamat Ali Shah, who was here for Kishenganga talks.

Pakistan insists that the Baglihar project design violates provisions of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty but India maintains that it does not.

The issue of contention is the transfer of water from Kishenganga to Konark and the storage design.

Saying they would like to resolve the matter in commissioner-level talks, Shah said, ‘‘We will meet in June/July. But the option, if talks prove inconclusive, is referring the case to a neutral expert.’’

Though the EC’s media invitation did not specify the subject, officials said the briefing would pertain to the SIR schedule. (File)

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