World | Pakistan
India-Pakistan water dispute may hamper improving ties: Zardari
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday warned that the brewing row with India over the waters of the Chenab river in the disputed Kashmir region was in danger of hampering improving ties between the old rivals.
- Agency
- Published: 09:46 October 13, 2008
Islamabad: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday warned that the brewing row with India over the waters of the Chenab river in the disputed Kashmir region was in danger of hampering improving ties between the old rivals.
The warning comes just two days after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated a 450-megawatt hydro power project at Baglihar dam on the Chenab, which flows from the Indian side to the Pakistani side of Kashmir.
Zadari on Sunday said that, "Pakistan would be paying a very high price for India's move to block Pakistan's water supply from the Chenab River."
"Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured me in our meeting in New York that his country is seriously committed to our water sharing treaty," he said, referring to their meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.
Pakistani newspapers reported last week that India had blocked water from the Chenab river, which raised Pakistani concerns about water availability for crops.
Zardari warned that violation of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty "would damage the bilateral ties the two countries had built over the years".
Under the accord, each country controls more than three rivers draining into the Indus river basin.
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