Top officials from the Indian and Pakistani Indus Commissions are to meet in Delhi on March 23 and 24 to discuss a number of issues, including Pakistan’s concerns over the implementation of Indian hydropower projects on the Chenab River, as per Saxena, a senior Central government official.
It is noteworthy that, under the terms of the Indus Water Treaty, the two Commissioners must meet alternately once a year in India and Pakistan. This year’s meeting will be held in New Delhi on March 23-24. This will be the first meeting between the two commissioners after the repeal of the special provisions of Section 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It is noteworthy that India has sanctioned several hydropower projects in Ladakh after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A.
The Central government has approved hydropower projects in Turbuk Shiok, Shanku, Nimu Chilling, Rondo and Ratan Nag in the Leh area. India had already informed Pakistan of these plans. However, this issue is expected to be the central issue during the meeting. Saxena added during his address to the press that Pakistan’s concerns over the design of Indian hydropower projects on the Chenab River would also be discussed.
Earlier, last year’s meeting, scheduled to be held in New Delhi in March 2020, was cancelled for the first time since the Indus Treaty came into force in lieu of the epidemic. India proposed to Pakistan in July 2020 that a meeting to discuss the pending issues related to the Indus Water Treaty should be held in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, but Pakistan insisted that the talks be held at the Attari checkpoint.
However, India said it was not optimal to hold the meeting at the Attari Joint Check Post due to the global pandemic. Saxena had said that the meeting will now be held with all corona protocols in place. The meeting is set to take place after a gap of almost two and a half years. Earlier, the last meeting took place in August 2018 in Lahore. The Indian delegation will be led by Saxena along with consultants from the Central Water Authority, Central Electricity Board and the National Hydropower Corporation.
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