Kishanganga: India, Pak disagree on nominees for arbitration

Islamabad, Jul 22 (PTI) India and Pakistan have rejected
each other's proposed nominees for the Court of Arbitration
to adjudicate on a dispute over the Kishanganga hydropower
project in Jammu and Kashmir.

The two sides have decided to draw lots to determine
three individuals who will now select the umpires under three
categories -- chairman, legal member and engineer member,
media reports said on Thursday.
Pakistan made a request two months ago for arbitration
on the disputed project which, it alleges, violates the
Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.
On July 13, delegations from India and Pakistan had
exchanged the names of proposed members for the court.
The Pakistani side was led by Special Assistant to the
Prime Minister on Water Resources Kamal Majidullah and the
Indian side by Central Water Commission Chairman A K Bajaj.
After the two sides failed to agree on any names, they
decided to set up a panel comprising a chairman, a legal
member and an engineer to select the umpires.
The panel will be chosen by drawing lots.
Pakistan is waiting for a date, time and venue in New
Delhi to draw the lots.
Pakistan and India will follow the dispute resolution
mechanism outlined in the treaty to settle their differences.
Pakistan has also engaged the services of Alan Vaughan
Lowe, a professor of public international law with Oxford
University and an expert in water-related matters.
Islamabad has opposed the Kishanganga project on the
ground that it will reduce the generation capacity of the
969-MW Neelum-Jhelum power project on the same river
downstream at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The project will result in a loss of energy equivalent
to Rs 6 billion every year, it has claimed.
Pakistan has also claimed that the diversion will
reduce river flows near the Line of Control on the Pakistani
side for at least six months and cause irreparable losses to
the environment, particularly the Musk Deer Gurez Park and
denude the Neelum valley.
PTI RHL