January 21, 2005

India refuses to halt construction

Pakistan seeks World Bank mediation over Kashmir dam dispute

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Pakistan said Tuesday it would take a long-running dispute over a dam India is building on its side of divided Kashmir to the World Bank, and warned that the simmering disagreement could hurt efforts to reach a permanent peace between the two nuclear-armed rivals.

India is building the Baglihar dam in its portion of the Himalayan region, and Pakistan fears it will deprive its main agricultural province of water for irrigation. It claims the dam is a violation of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty. Talks in New Delhi collapsed earlier this month.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told The Associated Press the decision to seek mediation from the World Bank was reached after months of frustration.

“India has inordinately delayed the process . . . and pressed ahead with the construction of the dam in violation of the treaty, so we have taken the decision to approach the World Bank,” he said.

The Washington-based bank was involved in the initial drafting of the water treaty and Pakistan says it is empowered to step in to resolve disputes. India has insisted that the issue can be resolved bilaterally.

There was no immediate reaction from the bank, or from New Delhi, to Pakistan’s announcement.

Khan said parallel peace talks between the South Asian countries would continue on schedule, but he added that the dispute over the dam “will cast a bad light on the dialogue process.”

He said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz in New Delhi in November had promised to “intervene to bilaterally resolve the issue of Baglihar dam,” but “to our disappointment, India made no change in its stance.”

“People are asking questions that if India is not ready to demonstrate a spirit of accommodation for an issue which is very clear . . . how are they going to solve much harder issues like Kashmir, peace and security,” Khan said.

He demanded that India halt construction of the dam until the dispute is resolved.

The two nations have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. Hopes have been raised in recent months that they might be moving toward peace, though progress in the talks has been slow and mistrust is rampant on both sides.

Khan said Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh will visit Pakistan next month for talks.

The Associated Press

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