World Bank asks Pakistan to accede to India's proposal of neutral expert on dam dispute

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In a blow to Pakistan, the World Bank has reportedly asked it to not pursue the dispute over Kishanganga dam to the International Court of Arbitration and instead accept India’s offer of appointing a neutral expert.

A report in Pakistani English daily Dawn said World Bank president Jim Yong Kim advised the Pakistani government to stand down and defer from taking the matter to the ICA.

This is a change of stance from the earlier position taken by the World Bank. In 2016, the bank had even picked a US chief justice, the rector of Imperial College, London, and the World Bank president for appointing a chairman of the court to resolve the dispute over the dam. However, in December the Bank had “paused” the process of appointment.

Pakistan has continuously opposed the construction of a dam claiming it as a violation of a World Bank-mediated six-decade-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus and its tributaries. The country thinks that the dam would not only alter the course of the river but also deplete the water level of the rivers that flow into Pakistan.

India, on the other hand, considers that the dam does not violate the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. It says the treaty allows a country to build ‘run-of-river’ hydel projects that do not affect the flow and water level of a river.

While Pakistan has been insistent on taking the matter to ICA, India describes the issue a mere difference over the design of the dam. New Delhi had proposed the appointment of neutral experts to resolve the matter.

Quoting a source, Dawn said, “Pakistan believed that acceding to India’s proposal of referring the dispute to neutral experts or withdrawing from its stand would mean closing the doors of arbitration and surrendering its right of raising disputes before international courts.”

“It will become a precedent and every time a dispute emerges between Pakistan and India, the latter will always opt for dispute resolution through neutral experts,” the source further adds.