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The Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) is a bilateral commission consisting of officials from India and Pakistan, created to implement and manage the goals and objectives and outlines of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). [1]
After prolonged talks between the governments of India and Pakistan, the IWT was signed in September 1960 with World Bank standing guarantee for any dispute resolution. Broadly, according to this treaty, waters of the three western rivers (the Jhelum, the Chenab, and the Indus itself) were allocated to Pakistan, and those of the three eastern rivers (the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej) were allocated to India. All these six rivers together called as Indus System of Rivers (ISR). PIC is the channel of correspondence between the two countries for the purpose of IWT and first step for conflict resolution. If an agreement cannot be reached at the PIC level, the dispute can be referred to a Neutral Expert for the differences already identified in the treaty or referred to the two governments for approaching the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). If the governments too fail to reach an agreement, the Treaty provides an arbitration mechanism. Presently, the role of the World Bank is limited as provided in Annexues F & G. [2]
The Court of Arbitration has the authority to give a stay order, while the Neutral Expert does not have such powers. [3]
Commissioner of Pakistan has its web page and some related documents are uploaded to disseminate information to the interested readers. [4] [5] Whereas Commissioner of India does not maintain a web site. However both Commissioners do not make the annual reports accessible online to public to keep the public depend on concocted / vested news.
Since the ratification of the treaty in 1960 , India and Pakistan have not engaged in any water wars. Most differences and disputes have been settled via legal procedures, provided for within the framework of the treaty. The treaty is considered to be one of the most successful water sharing endeavors in the world despite two wars and many war like situations between the two countries.
Salal dam was constructed after entering mutual agreement by both countries. [6] Tulbul Project is pending for clearance for decades even after protracted discussions between India and Pakistan. [7] Neutral Expert's ruling was followed for clearing the Baglihar power plant and PCA verdict was followed for clearing the Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant. [8] [9] [10] Pakistan is claiming violation of the treaty regarding 850 MW Ratle Hydroelectric Plant. [3] [11] India has not yet raised any violation of IWT by Pakistan.
It was 116th annual meeting [12] [13] on March 23-24,2021, in New Delhi, of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), composed of Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that arise out of international agreements between member states, international organizations or private parties. The cases span a range of legal issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries, sovereignty, human rights, international investment, and international and regional trade. The PCA is constituted through two separate multilateral conventions with a combined membership of 122 states. It is not a United Nations agency, but a United Nations observer.
The Ravi River is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region.
The Jhelum River (/dʒʰeːləm/) is a river in the northern Indian subcontinent. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, into Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir, then the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the westernmost of the five rivers of the Punjab region, and flows through the Kashmir Valley. It is a tributary of the Chenab River and has a total length of about 725 kilometres (450 mi).
The Chenab River is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul region of Himachal Pradesh, India. The Chenab flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India into the plains of Punjab, Pakistan, before ultimately flowing into the Indus River.
The Sutlej or Satluj River is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as Satadru. It is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. The Bhakra Dam is built around the river Sutlej to provide irrigation and other facilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international arbitration institution established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States. ICSID is part of and funded by the World Bank Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is an autonomous, multilateral specialized institution to encourage international flow of investment and mitigate non-commercial risks by a treaty drafted by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development's executive directors and signed by member countries. As of May 2016, 153 contracting member states agreed to enforce and uphold arbitral awards in accordance with the ICSID Convention.
Wular Lake, also known as Wolar in Kashmiri, is one of the largest fresh water lakes in South Asia. It is located near Bandipora town in the Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The lake basin was formed as a result of tectonic activity and is fed by the Jhelum River and stream Madhumati and Arin.
The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, arranged and negotiated by the World Bank, to use the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries. It was signed in Karachi on 19 September 1960 by then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Pakistani president Ayub Khan.
The Neelum River, or Kishanganga River, is a river in the Kashmir region of India and Pakistan. It originates in Bandipora district of northern Jammu and Kashmir in India, flows through the Neelam Valley in Pakistan's Azad Kashmir, where parts of its course fall along the Line of Control, before merging with the Jhelum River near the city of Muzaffarabad.
Sir Creek, originally Ban Ganga, is a 96-km (60-mi) tidal estuary in the uninhabited marshlands of the Indus River Delta on the border between India and Pakistan. The creek flows into the Arabian Sea and separates Gujarat state in India from Sindh province in Pakistan. The long-standing India-Pakistan Sir Creek border dispute stems from the demarcation "from the mouth of Sir Creek to the top of Sir Creek, and from the top of Sir Creek eastward to a point on the line designated on the Western Terminus". From this point onward, the boundary is unambiguously fixed as defined by the Tribunal Award of 1968.
Baglihar Dam, also known as Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project, is a run-of-the-river power project on the Chenab River in the Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. The first power project executed by the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation, it was conceived in 1992 and approved in 1996, with construction begun in 1999. The project was estimated to cost US$1 billion. The project consists of two-stage of 450MW each. The first stage of the project was completed in 2008-09 and was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India. The second stage of the project was completed in 2015–16, and was subsequently dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.
Salal Dam, also known as Salal Hydroelectric Power Station, is a run-of-the-river hydropower project on the Chenab River in the Reasi district of the Jammu and Kashmir. It was the first hydropower project built by India in Jammu and Kashmir under the Indus Water Treaty regime. After having reached a bilateral agreement with Pakistan in 1978, with significant concessions made to Pakistan in the design of the dam, reducing its height, eliminating operating pool, and plugging the under-sluices meant for sediment management, India completed the project in 1987. The concessions made in the interest of bilateralism damaged the long-term sustainability of the dam, which silted up in five years. It currently runs at 57% capacity factor. Its long-term future is uncertain.
Water conflict is a term describing a conflict between countries, states, or groups over the rights to access water resources. The United Nations recognizes that water disputes result from opposing interests of water users, public or private. A wide range of water conflicts appear throughout history, though rarely are traditional wars waged over water alone. Instead, water has long been a source of tension and one of the causes for conflicts. Water conflicts arise for several reasons, including territorial disputes, a fight for resources, and strategic advantage.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for disagreeing parties who cannot come to an agreement short of litigation. However, ADR is also increasingly being adopted as a tool to help settle disputes within the court system.
The Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Plant was part of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power project in Azad Kashmir (AJK) designed to divert water from the Neelum River to a power station on the Jhelum River. The power station is located 42 km (26 mi) south of Muzaffarabad, and has an installed capacity of 969 MW. Construction on the project began in 2008 after a Chinese consortium was awarded the construction contract in July 2007. After many years of delays, the first generator was commissioned in April 2018 and the entire project was completed in August 2018 when the fourth and last unit was synchronized with the national grid on 13 August and attained its maximum generation capacity of 969 MW on 14 August 2018. It will generate 5,150 GWh per year at the levelised tariff of Rs 13.50 per unit for 30 years.Project is permanently closed since July 2022.
The Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Its dam diverts water from the Kishanganga River to a power plant in the Jhelum River basin. It is located near Dharmahama Village, 5 km (3 mi) north of Bandipore in the Kashmir valley and has an installed capacity of 330 MW.
Philippines v. China, also known as the South China Sea Arbitration, was an arbitration case brought by the Republic of the Philippines against the People's Republic of China (PRC) under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning certain issues in the South China Sea, including the nine-dash line introduced by the Republic of China (Taiwan) since as early as 1947. A tribunal of arbitrators appointed the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) as the registry for the proceedings.
The Ratle Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station, with permitted pondage under the Indus Water Treaty, currently under construction on the Chenab River, downstream of the village near Drabshalla in Kishtwar district of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The project includes a 133 m (436 ft) tall gravity dam and two power stations adjacent to one another. Water from the dam will be diverted through four intake tunnels about 400 m (0.25 mi) southwest to the power stations. The main power station will contain four 205 MW Francis turbines and the auxiliary power station will contain one 30 MW Francis turbine. The installed capacity of both power stations will be 850 MW. On 25 June 2013, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone for the dam. Pakistan has frequently alleged that it violates the Indus Waters Treaty.
The Pakal Dul Dam is an under construction concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Marusudar river, a tributary of the Chenab River, in Kishtwar district of the Indian Jammu and Kashmir. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation. It will divert water to the south through a 10 km (6.2 mi) long headrace tunnel and into power station on the reservoir of the Dul Hasti Dam, on the Chenab. In February 2014, the project was awarded to a consortium of domestic and foreign countries. It includes AFCONS, JP Prakash Associate Bharat Heavy Electricals. Pakistan, which relies on the Chenab downstream, views the dam as a violation of the Indus Water Treaty, whereas India states it is as per treaty provisions. Indian Commentator Harshil Mehta wrote that the project holds strategic interest for India, apart from utilising just Hydropower, along with Kiru and Ratle, and Ujh multipurpose project.
Neeru Chadha is an Indian jurist who serves as a member of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). She previously served in various capacities for the Indian government's external affairs ministry including as the additional secretary and legal adviser heading its legal and treaties division.