‘Pak to move court of arbitration over Kishanganga project’

Former Water and Power Secretary Ashfaq Mehmud and top officials of the Water and Power ministry,Foreign Office,Army,ISI and law division attended the meeting,it said.

Pakistan’s Indus Waters Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah briefed the meeting on the Kishanganga project and said talks between the two countries had failed after “exhausting all endeavours” made through Permanent Commission of Indus Waters (PCIW).

The report said Pakistan would soon inform India about its intention to move the International Court of Arbitration and seek the appointment of a neutral expert over the alleged diversion of waters of the Neelum to Wullar barrage and the “faulty” design of the Kishanganga project.

“Being Pakistan’s Commissioner,I served notice on the Indian commissioner in March after exhausting all endeavours mentioned in the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 at the PCIW-level to resolve the issue,” Shah was quoted as saying by an unnamed official who attended the meeting.

Shah reportedly said Pakistan was left with no other option but to move the International Court of Arbitration and seek the appointment of a neutral expert under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty in order to halt work on the Kishanganga project.

Water and Power Secretary Shahid Rafi too told the daily that Pakistan planned to seek the help of a neutral expert first. Failing this,the International Court would be approached,he said.

Rafi said Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani had been consulted on the issue and he had given his consent for initiating the process of seeking the arbitration of a neutral expert.

If India and Pakistan fail to reach consensus on appointing a neutral expert,Islamabad could seek the appointment of the expert with the help of the World Bank,Rafi said.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told a news briefing on Thursday that Pakistan was pursuing its concerns about the sharing of rivers waters with India through diplomatic channels.

He regretted “that India had halted the process of dialogue and engagement,” including the river waters issue,in the wake of last year’s Mumbai terror attacks.