WASHINGTON: A four-member delegation from
Pakistan headed by Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali is due to visit Washington next week to apprise the top
World Bank officials about Pakistan’s serious concern over the
Kishanganga hydro power project that was inaugurated this week.Talking to media men at the
Pakistan Embassy in Washington, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said that the delegation will visit the capital from Monday through Wednesday during which it will hold high-level talks
with the
World Bank officials on the project.Pakistan has termed the inauguration of the project without the resolution of the dispute as a serious violation of the Indus Waters Treaty brokered by the
World Bank in 1960 that governs the distribution and control of rivers between
Pakistan and India.Ambassador Chaudhry expressed Pakistan’s serious concern over the project that has become operational and said that Islamabad had conveyed its strong opposition to the construction of the project to the
World Bank but it had been ignored. India plans to undertake several such project in the disputed territory.He said that as the
World Bank is a guarantor of the treaty, it has to play its role in addressing Pakistan’s concerns over the project that has been constructed on waters flowing into
Pakistan and would seriously disrupt supplies vital for the country’s agriculture.India started the work on the 330 MW
Kishanganga in 2009, but
Pakistan took the issue to the International Court of Justice and also raised the issue
with the
World Bank.Ambassador Chaudhry said that the
World Bank needs to intervene in the matter and it was the responsibility of the
World body to fulfill its obligation being the guarantor of the international agreement.
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