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| India-Pakistan |
| Kishanganga project: Pakistan serves notice on India |
| 2009-03-24 |
| ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has served notice on India over the controversial 330 MW Kishanganga hydropower project after all efforts to resolve the issue at the level of Permanent Commission of Indus Waters (PCIW) failed, saying it is now left with no option but to move the neutral expert. “We had served the notice on India some ten days back after exhausting all endeavours mentioned in the Indus Waters Treaty at PCIW level to resolve the issue, but India is hell bent upon negating the treaty by diverting the water flows for hydrogeneration which is destined to reach Pakistan,” a senior official at the ministry of water and power told The News. India is constructing Kishanganga hydropower project on Ganga tributary near Bandipur in Baramullah district in held Kashmir. The said tributary is called Neelum River when it enters Pakistan and India is diverting water of Neelum River (Ganga River) to Wullar Lake to generate electricity, but Pakistan objects that diversion of water by India is not allowed under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan is building Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project on Neelum River in Azad Kahsmir. Both sides discussed the thorny issue on July 29, 2008 in New Delhi under PCIW in the last-ditch effort to resolve the dispute at the commission level, but the talks ended in failure. Soon after the meeting, Syed Jamaat Ali Shah, leader of the Pakistan’s delegation, told the Indian media in New Dehli that Islamabad would decide the next course of action after further consultations. “Now after the passage of seven months, the Pakistan Commission of Indus Water has served notice on India, informing New Delhi that Islamabad is to move a neutral expert to seek justice.” The official said Pakistan’s Commissioner of Indus Water Syed Jamaat Ali Shah has sent the notice to his Indian counterpart. Pakistan says the diversion of water flow will not only adversely reduce the electricity generation capacity of the 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project by 15 to 16 percent, but will also inflict huge damage on the environment of the Neelum Valley. And if the Neelum-Jhelum project loses 16 percent capacity to generate electricity because of non-availability of water then its financial viability would be compromised. When contacted, Abdul Basit, spokesman for Foreign Office said that he has come to know that Pakistan’s Commission of Indus Water has written a letter to its Indian counterpart, but he did not know the exact contents of the letter. “However, I will be able to know the facts after the March 23 holiday is over,” he said. Syed Jamaat Ali Shah did not disclose any details when this scribe approached him. However, he did not deny the fact that he himself served the notice on his Indian counterpart. Pakistan had earlier sought the services of a neutral expert appointed by the World Bank for the resolution of Baglihar dispute. But the verdict went against Pakistan and now the Pakistani authorities are pondering to move the International Court of Justice against the verdict of the neutral expert. The world water day (March 22) is of immense significance to Pakistan, keeping in view its water disputes with India. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #5 Was it the hydro or the logical part that was the hangup? |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2009-03-24 22:33 |
| #4 kufr science is also beyond them it seems. The Indians send them technical data but there appear to be few (if any) hydrologists in Pakistan. They actually admitted to the neutral expert that they didn't understand all the hydrological stuff. |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-24 19:30 |
| #3 Yes, yes, john, but we all know that kufr laws are not binding upon the master religion unless they decide to respect them. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-03-24 19:17 |
| #2 After Indian Mig 21s shot down a Pakistani Navy Atlantique long-range reconnaissance aircraft, Pakistan went to the ICJ. The International Court of Justice, principal judicial organ of the United Nations, today declared that it had no jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the dispute brought before it by Pakistan against India in the case concerning the aerial incident of August 10, 1999. It said India's declaration contained inter alia a reservation according to which ``disputes with the government of any state which is or has been a member of the Commonwealth of nations'' are excluded from the court's jurisdiction Further, according to the Indus Waters Treaty The decision of the Neutral Expert on all matters within his competence shall be final and binding, in respect of the particular matter on which the decision is made, upon the Parties and upon any Court of Arbitration established under the provisions of Article IX |
| Posted by: john frum 2009-03-24 17:34 |
| #1 "Pakistan had earlier sought the services of a neutral expert appointed by the World Bank for the resolution of Baglihar dispute. But the verdict went against Pakistan and now the Pakistani authorities are pondering to move the International Court of Justice against the verdict of the neutral expert." Court shopping?? |
| Posted by: tipover 2009-03-24 17:23 |