The easy availability of power will ameliorate the lot of the people in J&K
Sant Kumar Sharma
India can go ahead with the building up of Ratle (850 MW) and Kishenganga (330 MW) hydro-electrical power projects located in J&K. A clear statement to this effect was issued by the World Bank on Wednesday.
Ratle is a major run of the river power project located in remote area of Kishtwar district of Jammu province on Chenab river and Kishenganga project is in the Kashmir Valley.. Together, the electricity produced by the two dams can help J&K overcome deficiency of power it faces. Needless to say, the easy availability of power will ameliorate the lot of the people in J&K, and the locals, in particular.
The World Bank statement assumes significance as Pakistan had, in November 2016, asked it to intervene and halt the construction of these dams. It had claimed that the designs of power projects violated the Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
It is pertinent to point out here that IWT was signed by India and Pakistan to share waters of Indus river basin. Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers, known as Western Rivers in IWT parlance, have been allotted to Pakistan.
Three other rivers of the Indus river basin, namely Sutlej, Beas and Ravi are known as Eastern Rivers (under the IWT) and have been allotted to India for usage.
The treaty, however, allows India to make several uses of the waters of these rivers flowing through its territory. Hydro-electric power generation is allowed under the IWT provisions, this is the crux of the World Bank statement.
The World Bank clearance to India is a repudiation of Pakistan’s objections regarding halting the two power projects and stopping work on them till Pakistan”s objections are addressed.
The Secretary-level discussions on the technical issues pertaining to IWT were held earlier, and the World Bank statement came at the end of these talks.
The World Bank said that the talks between Indian and Pakistani officials over the IWT took place in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation. “The parties have agreed to continue discussions and reconvene in September in Washington DC,” the statement issued by the World Bank read.
The officials of the two countries had met earlier, in the third week of March 2017, at Lahore for mandatory discussions. Incidentally, meeting of the Indus Water Commissioners of the two countries periodically is a mandatory element of the treaty.
The Indus Water Commissioners of the two countries together constitutes Permanent Indus Commission (PIC). The commission is a mechanism to exchange data pertaining to the river waters, take up issues with one another and trying to resolve differences, if any. More often than not, Pakistan has used this bilateral forum to put spokes in India”s plans regarding harnessing of the river waters.
The IWT was signed by India and Pakistan after protracted negotiations lasting several years. It was signed on behalf of India by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. For Pakistan, the treaty was inked by General Ayub Khan. The treaty was signed at Karachi on September 19, 1960, and is now 57 years’ old.
Regarding “Future Cooperation”, the relevant clauses are given under Article VII and spell out broadly how the two signatories should deal with one another.
The two parties (read India and Pakistan) recognize that they have a common interest in the optimum development of the Rivers, and to that end, they declare their intention to cooperate, by mutual agreement to the fullest extent possible, Article VII reads.
What is embodied in words, spirit of cooperation, that should guide the two parties, is more like a one-way street, with Pakistan often trying to apply brakes to India’s projects. A more purposeful and open cooperation will perhaps help develop the large Indus basin better.
Time and again, Pakistan has tried to stall projects, even those clearly allowed under the treaty clauses. This allows it to harm India monetarily as its objections invariably have led to cost escalations in the past.
It bears mention here that almost all representations made by Pakistan over the years regarding different projects within J&K have been set aside earlier. Basically, they have been huge exaggerations regarding technical aspects.
Last year, the World Bank had started, simultaneously, the processes of appointing a “Court of Arbitration” and a “Neutral Expert” after representations from Pakistan. However, objections raised by India led to stalling the processes.
