ISLAMABAD: A five-member Pakistani delegation, led by Indus Water Commissioner Mehr Ali Shah, on Sunday left for India to discuss issues pertaining to sharing of water resources under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), the Pakistani state media reported.
India has embarked on ambitious irrigation plans and construction of many upstream dams in recent years, though it says its use of water is strictly in line with the treaty signed between the two countries in 1960.
Pakistan has opposed some of these projects since it maintains they violate the World Bank-mediated agreement on the sharing of Indus waters, noting that 80 percent of Pakistani agriculture depends on it.
"Five-member Pakistani delegation is visiting India to attend the 118th Meeting of the Permanent Commission on Indus Waters from 30-31 May 2022 in New Delhi," the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement.
"Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Mehr Ali Shah is leading the delegation."
Speaking before his departure, Shah said Pakistan has objections over India's three mega hydel power projects on River Chenab, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
"The two-day talks... will focus on issues of sharing flood data in the upcoming monsoon season as well as forecast information regarding floods in rivers coming from India," he was quoted as saying.
The India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission alternately holds meetings in the two countries under the relevant IWT provisions. The two sides last held talks in Islamabad in March.
