India and Pakistan spar over Indus water talks amid pandemic

Recently, India has refused the request by Pakistan to hold a meeting on issues around the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) at the Attari checkpost near the India-Pakistan border. In March India had suggested a virtual conference but Pakistan had insisted on a physical meeting.

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Key-Point

The Ratle Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station currently under constructions on the Chenab River in Kishtwar district of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The project includes a 133 m tall gravity dam and two power stations adjacent to one another. In 2013, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the dam.

Pakistan has frequently alleged that it violates the Indus Water Treaty. According to the terms of the IWT, India has the right to build RoR projects on the three ‘western’ rivers — the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus — provided it does so without substantially impeding water flow in Pakistan downstream.

Pakistan believes that the project’s current design does pose a serious impediment and has told the World Bank that it wants a Court of Arbitration (CoA) set up to decide on the issue.

India says this is only a technical issue and mutually solvable. It has agreed to a ‘neutral party’ since a CoA potentially could stall any construction on all Indus projects.