NEW DELHI: Rather than mediate on the Indus Waters dispute, Washington today urged India and Pakistan to work bilaterally to solve the issue, contrary to what the Pakistani media reported yesterday.
Quoting unnamed Washington sources, Dawn had reported that the US has initiated the process to resolve the water dispute between India and Pakistan without waiting for a formal invitation.
At a daily press briefing today, a US State Department spokesman was asked if the US had offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the issue.
“As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby.
The spokesman did confirm that US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Pakistan finance minister Ishaq Dar on December 29. While Pakistan says the two officials talked about the Indus Waters Treaty, Kirby today didn’t confirm that either.
The Treaty is a water distribution agreement signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 and brokered by the World Bank . The current dispute revolves around the Kishenganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric plants. India is building the plants on the Kishanganga and Chenab rivers, which Pakistan claims violates the Treaty.
“The Indus Waters Treaty has served, I think as you know, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years. We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences,” the State Department’s Kirby said today.
India, too, prefers a bilateral resolution.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said last month there is no reason why technical design parameters on which Pakistan has raised objections can’t be sorted out by experts from both sides on projects like Kishenganga, PTI reported.
India also believes that these consultations should be given adequate time, Swarup had said.
However, Dawn reported that India’s request for more time alarmed Pakistan.
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