Expert ruling backs India over Indus Waters Treaty

India's position on Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir, which Pakistan has objected to, has got a shot in the arm with a World Bank-appointed neutral expert ruling that he is competent to adjudicate on the issue.

- Rezaul H Laskar

NEW DELHI:

Pakistan sought the appointment of the neutral expert to handle its objections to the two projects in 2015, but it unilaterally retracted this in 2016 and sought a court of arbitration. India has joined meetings with the neutral expert but stayed away from proceedings of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the grounds that both processes cannot run simultaneously.

The neutral expert, International Commission of Large Dams (ICOLD) president Michel Lino, ruled on Monday that he is competent to "render a decision on the merits of the Points of Difference" between India and Pakistan on the two hydropower projects. A decision will be given after hearing both parties, Lino said in a statement issued in Vienna.

The decision validates the position taken by India in the proceedings over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. "It is basically a setback for Pakistan," one of the people said.

"The neutral expert's decision is in line with the graded mechanism of dispute settlement envisaged in Article IX of the treaty, which Pakistan contravened by simultaneously approaching the Court of Arbitration," a second person said.