Baglihar dam issue

The Baglihar dam issue is an issue in India-Pakistan relations.

On January 10, 2005, Pakistan told India to suspend work on a dam in disputed Kashmir "before negotiations could resume" on a water row, warning that the issue could "sour a broader peace process" between India and Pakistan. The river water dispute centres on India's construction of the US$ 1 billion Baglihar hydropower dam on the Chenab River which flows from the part of Jammu and Kashmir under Indian control into Pakistan. Pakistani foreign ministry insisted that India stop construction as a minimum measure.

Pakistan said that it could resort to World Bank arbitration under the terms of a 1960 bilateral pact on sharing of river water. Pakistan has objected to the design of the dam, saying it would affect water flows into Pakistan and contravene the water-sharing treaty brokered by the World Bank. India has said that the power project does not propose to store water and will not disrupt flows. Under the treaty, India has rights over waters of the Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers while Pakistan has rights over the waters of the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum. All the rivers flow from India into Pakistan.

Later that month, the World Bank said that it will not interfere in the Baglihar dam issue. It clarified that Pakistan and India will have to try and thrash out the issue first and that it will only help establish a court of arbitration, that too after all other steps have failed.

The bank had informed the Governments of India and Pakistan on April 25 that it has determined that it is required to comply with the request of Islamabad to appoint a Neutral Expert under the terms of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, as both the countries failed to resolve the issue through bilateral dialogue.

After consulting India and Pakistan, the World Bank has appointed a Swiss expert to address differences between them concerning the project. The bank appoint Professor Raymond Lafitte, a civil engineer and professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, to take stock of the contentions of both India and Pakistan.

"Professor Lafitte...will be asked to make a finding on differences between the two governments concerning the construction of the Baglihar project," it said, adding that his findings will be made known in time. It also made it clear that his determination will be final and binding.

External links

• India Daily – "Controversial Baglihar dam issue stalemates India Pakistan peace talks" report dated January 11, 2005
• "More talks linked to stoppage of work: Baglihar dam issue" Dawn.com article dated January 13, 2005
• "World Bank denies being treaty guarantor: Baglihar dam issue" Dawn.com article dated January 19, 2005