Top officials from Pakistan and India are all set to hold meetings on September 14-15 on disputed water projects in Held Kashmir in Washington DC under the umbrella of the World Bank which brokered the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) 1960.
The Pakistani team comprises Secretary Water Resources Division Arif Ahmed Khan, Secretary Power Division, Yousuf Naseem Khokhar, Joint Secretary Water, Syed Mehar Ali Shah and Indus Water High Commissioner Mirza Asif Baig. India and Pakistan disagree on whether the technical design features of the two hydroelectric plants being constructed by India - Kishenganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) - contravene the Treaty. The plants are on a tributary of the Jhelum and the Chenab Rivers respectively.
The Treaty designates these two rivers as well as the Indus as "Western Rivers" to which Pakistan has unrestricted use. However, under the Treaty, India is permitted to construct hydroelectric power facilities on these rivers subject to constraints specified in the Treaty.
The Pakistani delegation will reiterate its earlier stance over the design change in the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant being constructed at River Neelum by India, as well the design of the 850 MW Ratli Hydroelectric Plant being constructed on River Chenab.
Since December 2016, the World Bank has worked towards an amicable resolution of the matter and to safeguard the Treaty. President Jim Yong Kim spoke several times with the finance ministers of the two countries. The World Bank Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva traveled to both countries and held high-level meetings.
The World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region, Annette Dixon, visited the two countries twice. She held meetings with Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar in Islamabad and Indian officials in New Delhi to sort out issues.
Dar had written a letter to the President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim asking the institution to execute its obligation under the Indus Waters Treaty.
Locally-based World Bank teams have convened dozens of meetings with different stakeholders. A variety of proposals has been discussed with the two countries on how to resolve the disagreement and the World Bank believes that many of these ideas, or similar ones, would be worth pursuing and merit continued consideration.
The Treaty sets out a mechanism for co-operation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission, which has a commissioner from each country.
According to the World Bank, the Treaty also sets forth distinct procedures to handle issues which may arise: "questions" are handled by the Commission; "differences" are to be resolved by a Neutral Expert; and "disputes" are to be referred to a seven-member arbitral tribunal called the "Court of Arbitration." The World Bank''''s role in relation to "differences" and "disputes" is limited to the designation of people to fulfill certain roles when requested by either or both of the parties.
The Pakistani team will raise the objection that the designs of these projects being constructed will obstruct water flow in the country''''s rivers.
Pakistan asked the World Bank to facilitate the setting up of a Court of Arbitration to look into its concerns about the designs of the two hydroelectric power projects. India asked for the appointment of a Neutral Expert for the same purpose. These requests came after the Permanent Indus Commission had been engaged in discussions on the matter for a while. During several months prior to December 12, 2016, the World Bank sought to fulfill its procedural obligations with respect to both the Court of Arbitration and the Neutral Expert. The Treaty does not empower the World Bank to choose whether one procedure should take precedence over the other; rather it vests the determination of jurisdictional competence on each of the two mechanisms. At the same time, the World Bank actively encouraged both countries to reach an agreement amicably on a mechanism to address the issues.