ISLAMABAD, 13 January 2005 — Pakistan has launched a diplomatic offensive against India over the crucial issue of Baglihar Dam as all is set to take the dispute to the World Bank and eventually to the World Court.
Sources said Pakistani authorities plan to utilize all diplomatic channels before moving the case to the World Bank since India is continuously trying to soft-pedal till completion of the construction work most likely to start April this year.
Secretary of Water and Power Ishfaq Mehmood and senior Foreign Office official Jaleel Abbasi jointly gave a detailed briefing to diplomats from the European Union, Japan and Canada and told them why Pakistan is going to the World Bank for appointment of a neutral expert on the issue.
“Pakistani diplomats stationed abroad will also play their role by explaining the factual position on the Baglihar project that is an absolute negation of international rules regarding the water flows and the rights of low riparian,” the sources said.
Pakistan says India violated the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 with construction of the Baglihar Dam on Chenab River without seeking permission. Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan yesterday said that Pakistan’s stance on Baglihar Dam was very strong because it was based on the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries.
In an interview to a private television channel Masood said, the Indus Water Treaty was one of the most successful agreements between Pakistan and India which remained intact during the past four and a half decades, despite all kind of happenings between the two countries.
“Even the wars could not affect this treaty,” he added. He said the design and structure of Baglihar Dam is contrary to the parameters laid down in the Indus Water Treaty, adding India was not giving serious attention to Pakistan’s concerns in this regard.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, kidnappers snatched 10 employees of Pakistan’s main water and power utility near a key gas-producing region where up to 18 people have been killed in tribal violence since last week, officials said yesterday.
The employees of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) were abducted late on Tuesday in Rajanpur, an area of central Pakistan on the border between Sindh and Baluchistan provinces, WAPDA Chairman Tariq Hameed said. The employees were abducted by two armed men while heading to survey an area for construction of an irrigation canal, said a company spokeswoman.
