Tulbul dispute: India seeks international arbitration

NEW DELHI: Frustrated over prolonged talks over the Tulbul navigation project in Kashmir, India is learnt to have told Pakistan today that it would prefer the option of seeking international arbitration to resolve the over two-decade old dispute.

The message was conveyed by India at the Water Resources Secretary-level talks which concluded here this afternoon.

India, which has been keen to resolve the dispute because of which the project over river Jhelum has been pending since 1986, agreed at the meeting to share technical data with Pakistan but no breakthrough could be achieved.

Sources said Indian side suggested that in case no solution is forthcoming in the near future, it would "prefer" to go for arbitration to decide whether the project complied with the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960.

Earlier, Pakistan had sought arbitration over the Baglihar project by the World Bank, which is the third party under the Treaty, but lost the case. An international arbitration is underway for the Kishenganga project.

A joint statement issued at the end of the talks said both sides emphasised the need for an "early and amicable resolution" of the issue within the ambit of the Indus Water Treaty.

"In order to address the concerns of both countries, it was agreed that the Indian side will provide additional technical data to Pakistan," the statement said.

The Pakistani side will examine the data and furnish its views before the next round of talks.

"Both sides agreed that, if required, they will explore thew way forward for resolving the issue under the provisions of the Treaty," the statement said.

While India was represented by Water Resources Secretary D V Singh, the Pakistani side was by its Water Resources Secretary Imtiaz Hussain Kazi.