Ajit Karn
India questioned the World Bank’s decision on Thursday to appoint a Court of Arbitration and a neutral expert in two separate ways to help New Delhi and Islamabad work out their differences over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The World Bank Can’t Help Us Understand It”: India The World Bank’s role in the Indus Water Treaty is administrative. It chooses neutral experts or the chair of the court of arbitration.
India questioned the World Bank’s decision on Thursday to appoint a Court of Arbitration and a neutral expert in two separate ways to help New Delhi and Islamabad work out their differences over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
Last week, India sent a notice to Pakistan asking for a review and change to the 62-year-old Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) for managing cross-border rivers. India did this because Islamabad has been “intransigent” about how it handles disagreements.
“I don’t think they (the World Bank) can tell us how to understand the treaty. It is a treaty between our two countries, and based on what we know about it, it allows for a graded approach “Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said.
India sent Pakistan a notice that it wanted to change the treaty. This was a big step that came a few months after the World Bank said it would appoint a neutral expert and a chair of the Court of Arbitration to settle the disagreements over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects.
The choice of the Court of Arbitration has been a big disappointment for New Delhi.
“On January 25, India’s Indus Water Commissioner sent a notice to his Pakistani counterpart about changing the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960,” Mr. Bagchi said at a press conference in response to a question about the matter.
“This notice was sent out to give Pakistan a chance to talk to its government about how to fix the fact that it is still breaking the treaty in a big way,” he said.
Mr. Bagchi said that India had asked Pakistan to set a date for the start of bilateral talks between the two countries within 90 days, as required by article 12(III) of the treaty.
“I haven’t heard anything back from Pakistan yet. I haven’t heard anything from or about the World Bank, “he said.
The World Bank’s job is to make sure things go smoothly. If India and Pakistan disagree about something related to cross-border rivers, it is the World Bank’s job to choose neutral experts or the chair of the court of arbitration.
“I don’t think they (the World Bank) can tell us how to understand the treaty. It is a treaty between our two countries, and based on what we know about it, it allows for a graded approach “Mr Bagchi said.
New Delhi thinks that starting the two processes to solve the dispute at the same time is a violation of the pact’s provision for a graded mechanism. It also wonders what will happen if the two processes come to different conclusions.
“About five or six years ago, the World Bank itself said that having two processes going on at the same time was a problem. Our understanding and assessment is that this is not in line with the treaty, so we have been talking about a step-by-step approach “Mr Bagchi said.
India’s position on the issue hasn’t changed, the spokesperson said.
He said, “I don’t know if the World Bank has changed its mind about it.”
India has not helped the Court of Arbitration in any way.A
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Under the terms of the pact, any disagreements must be solved in three steps. Sources say that when it came to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects, the World Bank started two parallel dispute resolution processes at the request of Pakistan. India thought this was a violation of the IWT.
"World Bank Can't Interpret It For Us": India On Indus Water Treaty https://t.co/OA0MkHJhkZ pic.twitter.com/nVXi03KZr2
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