The officials of India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet in Lahore on march 20 to discuss water issues. It is therefore reasonably expected that the Pakistani officials would be seeking an explanation from their counterparts about India's growing belligerence in relation to waters.
According to a report carried by Business Recorder, "six hydro projects in Indian Kashmir either cleared viability tests or the more advanced environment and forest expert approvals in the last three months, two officials in India's Water Resources Ministry and the Central Electricity Authority said separately. Together these projects on the Chenab river would triple hydropower generation in Jammu and Kashmir from the current level of 3,000MW, the biggest jump in decades, added the officials, declining to be named because the approvals had not yet been made public."
Regardless of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's anti-Pakistan rhetoric, the water officials of both the countries are expected to deal with issues in a serious manner and try to reach solutions strictly in accordance with the Indus Waters Treaty. India's officials must be asked why are they doing so many projects on the Chenab, although it is a very vulnerable region, it's landslide-prone, it's flash flood-prone, earthquake-prone?
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