Pakistani delegation leaves for India for talks regarding Indus Water treaty

ISLAMABAD: A five member Pakistani delegation, led by Indus Water Commissioner Mehr Ali Shah, left for India via Wagah Border on Sunday to discuss issues pertaining to sharing of water resources under the Indus Water Agreement.

Speaking before his departure, Mehr Ali Shah said the two-day talks would begin in New Delhi on Monday, which would focus on issues of sharing flood data in the upcoming monsoon season.

In addition, deliberations and aftermath strategy to be formulated while assessing the forecast information regarding floods in rivers coming from India are also the part of meeting’s agenda.

Read more: Pakistan calls for ‘full compliance’ of India-Pakistan Indus Water treaty

Indus Water Commissioner also apprised that Pakistan would raise objections before Indian authorities over New Delhi’s attempt to construct three mega hydel projects on River Chenab.

On March 23, a senior Pakistani diplomat had called for “full compliance” of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, a country which figured among top ten water scarce countries in the world.

“Pakistan’s water-scarcity is owed to Pakistan’s status as a lower-riparian state with unpredictable flow of waters in our eastern rivers,” Ambassador Munir Akram had said at an event organized by Egypt and Finland in connection with World Water Day.

“Many of our catchment areas and their ecosystems traverse boundaries,” the Pakistani envoy had told a large gathering of diplomats and UN officials.

“Changes on the other side of the border have a direct impact on us,” he had said.

“Therefore,” Ambassador Akram had said, “full compliance of 1960 Indus Waters Treaty is critical for Pakistan.”

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