Islamabad, Feb 5: Pakistan has asked India to immediately arrange for site-inspection of the 450-MW hydropower project being constructed on the Chenab river at Baglihar in Jammu and Kashmir and threatened to go to United Nations to demand inspection by neutral experts if New Delhi declined to do so. The Pakistan commissioner for Indus Water Commission Syed Jamaat Ali Shah has conveyed Pakistan's stand to his Indian counterpart A C Gupta, during an informal meeting held here yesterday. Gupta along with six other Indian officials are here to attend the special meeting of the Indus Water Commission requisitioned by Pakistan to discuss its reservations about the Baglihar project. Besides Gupta, the seven-member Indian delegation comprises A D Bhardwaj, Narinder Singh, Dharam Vir Thareja, Abdul Gani Malik, G Aranganathan and Chandra Kumar Laldas.
The formal meeting, scheduled to begin yesterday failed to take off due to late arrival of the Indian delegation. Instead, the two commissioners met informally yesterday. The two sides, which began formal talks today, were expected to issue a joint statement at the end of talks tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Shah has been quoted in the local media as saying Pakistan would resort to the option of neutral experts under the aegis of the UN, as envisaged under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, between India and Pakistan, if the meeting failed to resolve the issue amicably today.
"We want to fully benefit from the PIC (Permanent Indus Commission) forum and if an agreement is not reached then the subject goes to the institutional arrangements provided for in the treaty," he said.

Bureau Report