Islamabad: Pakistan and India will initiate talks tomorrow in Islamabad to discuss issues relating to water between the two countries.
A 10-member delegation of Indian water experts will arrive through the Wagah border to resolve bilateral waters issues through the 117th session of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC).
Indian Commissioner for Indus Water Pradeep Saxena will lead the Indian delegation, while the Pakistani delegation will be headed by the Indus Water Commissioner Mehr Ali Shah.
Commissioner Mehr Ali Shah said that Pakistan has severe concerns about several projects India is undertaking.
Giving details, he mentioned the 624 MW Kiru hydropower project on the Chenab River, the 15 MW Mandi project on the Pooch River in occupied Kashmir, a 24 MW semi-culvert on the Indus River, and 19 MW Turbok Shewk, 25 MW Hunderman, 19.5 MW Sanko Hydropower project MW and Mangram Sangra on the River Indus from the list of projects Pakistan will raise during the water talks.
Importance of the talks
It is worth mentioning here that the two countries meet annually to discuss cooperation on the Indus River system, as proposed under Article VIII of the Indus Water Treaty which the countries signed in 1960 with the intervention of the World Bank. According to the treaty, the commissioners must meet at least once a year in India or Pakistan.
The last time the delegations met was when the Pakistani deputation visited New Delhi in March. The meeting was held after two years of a break following the soaring tensions between the two countries after the Pulwama attack in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
At the end of the meeting, both sides had agreed to interact frequently to sort out their issues in a cordial manner.
