ISLAMABAD, 23 June 2006 — Pakistani and Indian officials began two-day talks yesterday to resolve water disputes over a barrage that India is constructing on the Jhelum River in the Kashmir region. This is the third round of talks on the Wullar Barrage, also known as Tulbul Navigation project. India’s Secretary for Water Research J. Hari Narayan said talks are cordial, but an early results is not expected. His Pakistani counterpart Ashfaq Mehmood too said that the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere. The dispute relates to the construction of the barrage that India says would enable to set up a navigational route between Baramullah and Wullar. But Pakistan lodged a strong protest over the project, saying it violated the Indus Water Treaty the two countries had signed in 1960 to resolve disputes over water sharing.
