ISLAMABAD, 9 February 2005 — The World Bank is in the process of appointing an arbitrator to resolve a row between Pakistan and India over Indian plans to build a dam in the disputed Kashmir region, bank President James D. Wolfensohn said yesterday.
Pakistan asked the Washington-based bank to resolve the dispute after bilateral talks on the issue broke down last month, dealing a setback to the slow-moving peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Wolfensohn said the bank would appoint the arbitrator under the terms of a 1960 water-sharing accord between the two neighbors.
“We are in the middle of doing that now,” he said in an interview with the Geo TV.
Asked how long would it take to resolve the row, he said: “I haven’t seen the papers myself but (from) what I hear it’s not going to be years.” Wolfensohn met President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and was told by the president that the bank should quickly appoint the neutral arbitrator, as India had increased the pace of construction that would ultimately hurt the flow of water to Pakistan.
“Pakistan has applied all channels to resolve the Baglihar dam dispute bilaterally through talks but India did not reciprocate positively and we have been left with no option except to resort to WB,” Musharraf said.
Musharraf conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan award on Wolfensohn in recognition of his outstanding leadership and the bank’s invaluable support to Pakistan’s economic growth, poverty alleviation and good governance.
Pakistan objects to India’s plans to build the $1 billion hydropower dam on the Chenab River, which flows from Indian Kashmir into Pakistan, saying it would affect flows into Pakistan and contravene the water accord brokered by the World Bank.
India counters that the 450-megawatt power project does not propose to store water and will not disrupt flows.
Diplomats say Pakistan is concerned that in the event of a conflict, India could use the dam to cause droughts or floods in Pakistan’s key agricultural province of Punjab.
The two South Asian rivals have come a long way to patch up relations since going to the brink of a fourth war in 2002. They have restored full diplomatic relations, resumed transport and sporting ties and held a ceasefire in the divided Kashmir region, but there has been no progress on the final settlement of their main dispute over Kashmir.
Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh is due to visit Islamabad later this month to bolster the fledgling peace process.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also expected to visit Pakistan in March.
