Water aggression: WB gave in to Indian pressure, says ex-commissioner
Pakistan’s former Indus water commissioner has claimed that the World
Bank (WB) – the arbitrator between Islamabad and New Delhi over their ongoing
water dispute – has relented to Indian pressure.
“In my view the World Bank has bowed to Indian pressure which in turn is
stalling on the process of resolution by a Court of Arbitration (CoA),” Jamaat
Ali Shah said in an interview with The Third Pole, a non-profit organisation.
He said Pakistan had approached the World Bank to set up the arbitration court
as a last resort only after it failed to resolve the issue bilaterally with its
arch rival.
India recently revealed its intentions to
block waters flowing into Pakistan. However, Islamabad took exception to the
Indian designs, saying any such move would be taken as open aggression.
According to the ex-commissioner, the WB’s
request to restart bilateral negotiations at the level of the Indus Commission
is going to be an exercise in futility. “To my mind, this dilly-dallying on the
part of the Bank only reinforces the latter’s intention to give impetus to
Indian PM Narendra Modi’s threat of scrapping the treaty,” he said.
Shah went on to suggest that it was very
alarming for Islamabad and there had been suspicion that India was pushing
Pakistan for a Treaty II only on the western rivers, the waters of which were
allocated to the latter in 1960. “That is why the Bank and the US are seen
debating it and dictating Pakistan for an amicable resolution (revision in the
treaty). Or at least India wants to get out of the restriction laid down on
them in the IWT [Indus Waters Treaty] regarding western rivers, as India cannot
liberally utilise these waters as per its will and demand,” he said.
In response to a question about the kind of
strategy Pakistan should adopt in face of the growing hostility from its
eastern neighbour, the former commissioner said the disinterest in matters of
the ministry of water and power had added to the damage.
“Pakistan first notified India for
resolution of the questions (on Kishenganga and Ratle projects) by a NE (neutral
expert) and then withdrew it, then approached the Bank for a CoA,” he said,
adding that it was an issue to be resolved by the NE being technical/design in
nature.
According to Shah, processing the issue
through CoA was not required. “But the question that comes to mind is to look
deeper in the vested interest in the deadlock,” he said.
Claiming that many people aim to benefit
from the case being taken from one authority to another, Shah said the expenses
incurred were Rs300 million of which Rs190 million have already been paid.
Published in The Express
Tribune, January 7th, 2017.
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