A three-member Pakistani delegation arrived in New Delhi on Sunday to inspect hydropower projects at Chenab river basin under the Indus Waters Treaty.
The delegation of experts headed by Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Mehr Ali Shah entered India via the Wagah Border. Other members are Joint Commissioner Usman Ghani and NESPAK Engineer Mehmood Hayat. They will inspect water projects on Chenab river, mainly the 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai. Mehar Ali Shah and Indian Indus Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Saxena along with their respective aides will undertake the tour in Chenab basin of Jammu and Kashmir.
Prior to the departure from Lahore, Shah hailed the tour as a positive development for the Indus Waters Treaty, also known as the Sindh Taas Agreement. The visit for inspection of Indian hydropower projects by Pakistani experts was confirmed by India’s Commissioner for Indus Waters Pradeep Kumar Saxena through a letter earlier in January, after several postponements.
The tour is an obligation imposed on both the countries by the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 between India and Pakistan. Under the treaty, both the commissioners are mandated to inspect sites and works on both the sides of Indus basin in a block of five years. Since signing of the treaty, a total of 118 such tours on both the sides have been undertaken by the commission. The last tours of the commission in Pakistan and India were held in July 2013 and September 2014, respectively.
The Indian leg of general tours of Inspection of Permanent Indus Commission will be held between January 28-31.
Published in Daily Times, January 28th 2019.
