Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, May 30: A five-member Pakistani delegation on Monday, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the 118th bilateral meeting on the Indus Water Treaty in New Delhi. The party arrived in India the day before through the Wagah border.
Both sides will discuss the topic of advance flood information and the annual report of the Permanent Commission of Indus Waters at the meeting (PCIW).
According to the Dawn, they would also address the 1,000 MW Pakal Dul hydropower project, which is being developed by India on the west-flowing rivers under Article IX of the Indus Waters Treaty, as well as the 48 MW Lower Kalnai and 624 MW Kiru project.
“There will be talks on the sharing of flood forecast data while the PCIW (Pakistan Commission for Indus Waters) annual report will also be discussed during the negotiations,” the head of the Pakistan delegation and Commissioner of Indus Waters, Syed Mehr Ali Shah said.
“This would be the 118th bilateral meeting at the PCIW level. Earlier, both countries held three-day talks in Islamabad on March 2-4, 2022,” he added.
The two countries will meet at the PCIW level in New Delhi for the next two days to discuss water issues, as the country continues to suffer from a severe water shortage.
Sherry Rehman, the head of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s climate change taskforce, warned this week that Pakistan was one of the world’s three most water-stressed countries and could face scarcity by 2025 if conservation and climate change mitigation measures were not taken, according to the Dawn.
