Steering committee on Indus Water Treaty meets
In the recent Indus Water Treaty (IWT) steering committee meeting, the amendment process has been assessed.
- India has discussed the ongoing Neutral Expert Proceedings on the Kishanganga Project and the Ratle Hydroelectric Project in the 6th Steering Committee meeting.
- The Kishanganga Project is on the Kishanganga, a tributary of the Jhelum, and the Ratle Hydroelectric Project is on the Chenab River. Both these projects are located in Jammu and Kashmir.
- In January 2023, India issued a notice to Pakistan citing non-compliance of rules in resolving disputes on both the above-mentioned hydropower projects.
- In 2015, the World Bank appointed a “neutral expert” and president of the Court of Arbitration (CoA) on the construction of the Kishanganga and Ratle hydropower plants at the request of Pakistan.
- India argued that Pakistan’s request for CoA violated the graded mechanism of dispute resolution in the treaty.
- The dispute redressal mechanism provided under Article IX of the IWT is a hierarchical mechanism. It is a 3-tier system.
- The IWT was signed by India and Pakistan in 1960. This treaty was concluded with the mediation of the World Bank.
- This treaty determines the rights and obligations of both countries on the use of the waters of the Indus river system.
- Under this, western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) have been allotted to Pakistan and eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) to India.
Source – The Print
