Hyderabad, June 11: In a new twist to the ongoing dispute over river water sharing, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today said he was willing to hold direct talks with his Karnataka counterpart S M Krishna to resolve outstanding issues provided the neighbouring state "first stopped works on the controversial Chitravathi project." Lashing out at upper riparian Karnataka for 'violating inter-state agreements, tribunal awards and ignoring the Centre's order' and going ahead with the project, Naidu said his government was adopting a "flexible and positive" approach to sort out the irritants. Asked at a press conference here whether he was ready for a dialogue with the neighbouring state on the raging dispute, he said "let them first stop the project if they are sincere and then we can discuss". Alleging that Karnataka had been "consistently unhelpful and unreasonable" on issues of river water sharing with neighbouring Tamil Nadu and AP, the chief minister pointed out how the upper riparian state had ignored his repeated requests for release of Krishna water from Almatti reservoir for drinking water purpose. "We are willing to hold talks with anybody to protect the state's interests," he said. Chitravathi project, coming up in Kolar district of Karnataka, has emerged as the latest irritant in the long turbulent history of river water disputes between the two riparian states with AP contending that the project would completely block flow of water to backward Anantapur and Cuddapah districts. Bureau Report