Pak says any unilateral plans by India on IWT not acceptable

Team Udayavani, Aug 30, 2017, 10:14 AM IST

Islamabad :  Pakistan today said that any unilateral plans by India aimed at modifying the terms of the Indus Water Treaty will not be acceptable. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, who was minister for water and power in the erstwhile Nawaz Sharif Cabinet, said that Pakistan was fulfilling its share of responsibility with respect to Indus Water Treaty, Radio Pakistan reported.

“Any unilateral plan by India aimed at modifying the terms of the treaty will not be acceptable to Pakistan,” he said addressing a seminar titled ‘Indus Water Treaty: Issues and Recommendations’ organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies here. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory.

Asif alleged that India was involved in “serious belligerence on water issue” as it has been designing many water resources (which, according to him, are detrimental to interests of Pakistan). He said Pakistan has conveyed its reservations regarding construction of hydroelectric and storage projects by India. Asif said the World Bank must play its due constructive role to resolve the issue as India has deliberately delayed the resolution.

Pakistan has always expressed its willingness to resolve all issues with India including the water distribution problem, through dialogue, he added. Earlier this month, the World Bank said that India and Pakistan concluded the secretary-level talks over the 1960 IWT in a spirit of “goodwill and cooperation”. “The parties have agreed to continue discussions and reconvene in September in Washington, DC,” it said in a brief statement.