ISLAMABAD: The next round of official level talks between India and Pakistan for a negotiated settlement of the controversial Wullar barrage issue is likely to be held in December, Pakistan’s Minister for water and power, Farooq Ahmad Leghari, has said.
Leghari told reporters at a news conference here that discussions would be held strictly under the purview of the Indus Water Treaty and there was no question of Pakistan compromising its interests.
Opposition parties in Pakistan have been accusing the Benazir Bhutto government of allowing India to construct the Wullar barrage in Kashmir valley which they said had deprived Punjab and other parts of Pakistan of considerable water inflow for irrigation.
India has made it clear that there has been no construction on the barrage since Pakistan requested to stop work in 1987. This has been reiterated by the PPP government which has categorically stated that there has been no work in the barrage since Bhutto came to power and discussions were continuing to resolve the issue.
Leghari said Pakistan was pursuing a negotiated settlement of the issue “while keeping open the option of moving the international court of arbitration.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 1, 1989
