New Delhi/Jan, 26: A delegation from Pakistan is scheduled to visit the Chenab river basin in Jammu and Kashmir for inspection from January 28 to 31, as mandated under the Indus Water Treaty, a media report quoting sources said.
Pakistan’s Indus Commissioner Syed Mohammad Mehar Ali Shah accompanied by his two advisers is scheduled to arrive Jammu on January 28, sources ,according to the report, said.
Report quoted a senior official as saying “this tour is an obligation imposed on both the countries by the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 between India and Pakistan. Under the Treaty, both the commissioners are mandated to inspect sites and works on both the sides of Indus basin in a block of five years “.
Since signing the treaty, a total of 118 such tours on both the sides have been undertaken by the commission.
The last tours of the commission in Pakistan and India were held in July 2013 and September 2014 respectively. No tour could be held so far in the current five years block which ends in March 2020.
This tour will be followed by a visit of Indian Indus Commissioner to Pakistan at a mutually convenient date decided between the two commissioners, the official added.
This tour was originally scheduled in October 2018 but later postponed because of local bodies and panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Under the Indus Water Treaty, waters flowing in three of Indus tributaries — the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi — have been allotted to India; while the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus waters have been allotted to Pakistan.
