JAMMU, June 24: A large delegation from India and Pakistan, accompanied by neutral experts, arrived in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Monday to inspect two power projects under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), officials said. About 40 people reached Jammu on Sunday evening and flew to Kishtwar on Monday morning to inspect various under-construction power projects in the Chenab valley region.
This marks the first visit by a Pakistani delegation to Jammu and Kashmir in over five years, under the dispute settlement mechanism of the 1960 treaty. The IWT, signed by India and Pakistan after nine years of negotiations with the World Bank as a signatory, sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange on the use of waters of several cross-border rivers.
The last inspection by a Pakistani delegation of the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydroelectric power projects under the IWT occurred in January 2019. Relations between the two countries froze following the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir later that year.
Upon landing at an army camp, the delegation visited the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) headquarters. They then proceeded to the 85 MW Ratle hydroelectric power project site at Drabshalla for dam inspection. They will also visit the 1,000 MW Pakal Dul hydroelectric project on the Marusudar River, a tributary of the Chenab, and other power projects during their stay in Kishtwar, officials said.
Pakistan had previously raised objections to the design features of these two hydroelectric power projects and requested a settlement through a Neutral Expert in 2016. However, Pakistan later withdrew the request and sought adjudication through a Court of Arbitration. India insisted on resolving the issue solely through Neutral Expert proceedings.
After failed negotiations, the World Bank appointed a Neutral Expert and the chair of the Court of Arbitration in October 2022. India issued a notice for the modification of the Treaty, warning that “such parallel consideration of the same issues is not covered under any provision of the IWT.”
In July 2023, the Court of Arbitration ruled that it was competent to consider and determine the disputes outlined by Pakistan’s request for arbitration. Pakistan filed its first Memorial, listing its legal case with documents, in March this year. The court conducted a week-long visit to the Neelum-Jhelum Hydro-Electric Plant in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in April to familiarize itself with the general aspects of the design and operation of run-of-river hydro-electric plants along the Indus system of rivers.
While India chose not to participate in the Court of Arbitration, it submitted a Memorial to the Neutral Expert in August 2023. Pakistan joined the second meeting of the parties held by the Neutral Expert in Vienna in September last year to discuss matters related to the organization of the site visit.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has appointed 25 “liaison officers” to coordinate the visit of neutral experts along with delegations from India and Pakistan.
