Pakistan opposes inauguration of Kishanganga Project, says it violates Indus Water Treaty

Pakistan has opposed the inauguration of Kishanganga Project, saying it violates the Indus Water Treaty.

Islamabad: Pakistan has voiced concern over the inauguration of the 330 MW Kishanganga hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying inauguration without resolution of a dispute between the two countries will tantamount to violation of the Indus Water Treaty.

Modi will inaugurate the power project in Bandipora district on Saturday.

"Pakistan believes that the inauguration of the project without the resolution of the dispute is tantamount to violation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)," a Foreign Office (FO) statement said on Friday.

Despite several rounds of bilateral negotiations as well as mediations under the auspices of the World Bank, India continued with the construction of the project, it said, adding that "this intransigence on part of India clearly threatens the sanctity of the Treaty."

Islamabad had been raising objections over the design of the hydel project in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is not in line with the criteria laid down under the IWT between the two countries.

But, India says the project design was well within parameters of the treaty.

The Kishanganga run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme is designed to divert water from the Kishanganga River to a power plant in the Jhelum River basin.

Construction on the project began in 2007 and was expected to be complete in 2016, but it was temporarily halted by the Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration (CoA) in 2011 due to Pakistan's protest.