Islamabad: Pakistan has sought intervention from the World Bank over the issue of the Indus Waters Treaty urging it to prevent India from making 'illegal constructions' on the Neelum and Chenab rivers that is likely to reduce the flow into its down stream areas. “In the meeting with the Pakistani delegation, the World Bank committed itself to timely fulfilling its obligations under the treaty while remaining neutral”, a report in daily 'Dawn' based on a statement from Pakistan embassy in Washington, said today.
A Pakistani delegation, led by Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali, met senior World Bank officials at its headquarters in Washington yesterday to discuss Pakistan’s recent request for an arbitration under Article IX of the Indus Waters Treaty(IWT)-1960. The IWT is a water-distribution agreement between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank and was signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960 by the then President Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The treaty gives India complete rights to waters of the Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Sutlej and Beas) and gives Pakistan the rights over the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) with limited allowance for use of water by India from the western rivers for the purposes of, among others, power generation, the statement by embassy said. Its Article IX deals with arbitration of disputes between the parties concerning the interpretation or application of the treaty or the existence of any fact which, if established, might constitute a breach of the treaty. The treaty provides specific design criteria for any hydroelectric power plants to be built by India. (UNI)