Indus Water Treaty: India says mandatory to hold meetings every year

New Delhi [India] Mar. 24 (ANI): The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said the Indus Water Treaty mandates the Commissioners of India and Pakistan to meet once in a year, adding it is incumbent to fulfill all obligations as part of the treaty. "As long as we are party to the Indus Water Treaty, it is incumbent upon us to fulfill our obligation. It is mandated to meet at least once in a year. Therefore, India's Indus commissioner attended the meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission last week in Pakistan," MEA official spokesperson Gopal Baglay told a press conference here. He further said that India's Indus Commissioner had detailed technical discussions in the meeting. "We are in the process of assessing these deliberations on various technical matters that the Commission is mandated to make," Baglay said. India has denied Pakistan media claims that New Delhi had accepted Islamabad's reservations on the disputed Miyar Dam during the second and last day of talks of the Indus Water Commission in Islamabad. The reports were factually incorrect and wrong and India had never agreed to halt the project, Indian sources were quoted as saying. Earlier in the day, Pakistan media said the Indian delegation, led by Indian Indus Water Commissioner P.K. Saxena, had agreed to halt work on the hydroelectric project's design and that it would share a new design of the Miyar project soon. Pakistan media also claimed that India had also agreed to review the design for the Lower Kalnai hydroelectric project. The Indo-Pak Indus Water Commission conference, which began in Islamabad on Monday, saw discussions on Miyar, Lower Kalnai and Pakal Dul projects among other problems related to Indus Basin. The meeting was the 113th session of the Permanent Indus Waters Commission established in 1960. The last meeting of the commission was held in 2015. The meeting planned in September 2016 was cancelled due to the tension following the Uri terror attack. (ANI)