No war over Indus waters issue: Indian official (Lead)

An Indian official Wednesday ruled out a sub-continental war on the sharing of river waters, saying that a half century old treaty governing this was being properly implemented.

Addressing a joint press conference here with his Pakistani counterpart, India's Indus Water Commissioner G. Ranganathan said that a formal meeting between the two countries would be held in March at which all pending issues would be resolved.

“My visit to Pakistan proves that India wants to resolve water issues with Pakistan,” Online news agency quoted him as saying.

Responding to a question, he said that the statistics regarding the water shortage in the Indus in Sindh would be reviewed, adding India was also facing a drought-like situation.

Pakistan's Indus Water Commissioner Jamat Ali Shah said he had conveyed its concerns to the Indian side, which had assured that there would be no obstruction in the water flow to Pakistan.

He said Pakistan would soon forward a proposal to India about setting up of a court of arbitration and for the appointment of neutral experts over India’s Kishanganga hydro-power project in Jammu and Kashmir.

A three-member Indian delegation of the Indus Water Commission had arrived here on Saturday for a five-day tour of Pakistan. It later left for home.

The World Bank had brokered the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty on the sharing of the rivers that flow into Pakistan from India.

This is the one treaty that remained in place in spite of the various hiccups in the Pakistan-India relations that have seen them fighting two full-blown wars in 1965 and 1971 and engage militarily in 1999 in Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian delegation's visit was part of the mechanism to inspect infrastructure and ensure implementation of the treaty, as also to redress concerns and narrow down any differences.

Last updated on Feb 10^th, 2010 at 18:33 pm IST--IANS