World Bank Says Unable to Appoint Neutral Expert in Indus Water Dispute Between India, Pakistan

The World Bank has expressed its inability to take an independent decision on the appointment of a neutral expert or a Court of Arbitration for the settlement of a long-pending water dispute between India and Pakistan, saying the two countries will have to bilaterally choose one option, a media report here said on Saturday.

India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the Washington-based World Bank being a signatory. The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.

“Both India and Pakistan should come together as to which option to take forward,” Patchamuthu Illangovan, the World Bank’s former Country Director of Pakistan, was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper on completion of his five-year term in Islamabad. Pakistan had made a request for the appointment of a Court of Arbitration (COA) while India had sought a neutral expert to resolve the dispute on two hydroelectric projects, he said.

Due to the two conflicting positions under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, the bank was facilitating the two governments to find ways in resolving their differences and move forward, Illangovan said. Asked if the bank was shying away from its role even though it was part of the treaty and had been sitting on Pakistan’s request for a COA for almost four years now, he said: “There is no provision in the treaty for the World Bank to take an independent decision.”