ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected media reports regarding the Indian proposal, calling for negotiations to amend the Indus Waters Treaty. Replying to a question in her weekly press briefing, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan would not like to indulge in commentary on media reports regarding the Indus Waters Treaty. She said proceedings of the Court of Arbitration in The Hague were concluded, where Pakistan’s objections to Kishanganga and Ratle Hydroelectric Projects were argued.
The spokesperson said the Court of Arbitration had been set up under the relevant provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty and media reports should not divert attention from the important proceedings of the court. She added that Pakistan did not conduct diplomacy through media.
Meanwhile, India had, on January 25, issued a notice to Pakistan for modification of the Indus Waters Treaty. Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Arindam Bagchi said, “we have issued rather our India`s Indus Commissioner issued a notice on January 25 for modification of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 to his Pakistani counterpart.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan and was brokered by the World Bank. The treaty allocated the western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, Chenab – to Pakistan and the eastern rivers – Ravi, Beas and Sutlej – to India.
