India puts off Pakistan visit for Indus basin inspection

NEW DELHI: A visit by an Indian team to Pakistan for inspection of projects in Indus river basin this month has been postponed, official sources said. While the postponement came amid tensions prevailing in ties since the Pulwama attack, officials did not rule out the possibility of the visit taking place in the next few months.

“There’s a window of 12 months for that visit to take place so there’s a lot of time,’’ said an official on condition of anonymity. A similar visit by Pakistani team was also postponed in 2018 before it finally took place in January this year.

India is currently preparing to host a Pakistan delegation at Attari on March 14 to finalise the modalities for opening of the Kartarpur corridor. Despite the conflict, the government has continued to maintain that it will not stop people-to-people contacts with Pakistan.

During the 115th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission held in Lahore from August 29-30, 2018, both commissioners had agreed to undertake the treaty-mandated tours of the Indus basin on both sides, the official said.

The tour of the Pakistani side was originally scheduled in October 2018 but was postponed because of local bodies polls in Jammu & Kashmir . The Pakistani team visited India later in the last week of January to inspect projects in the Chenab basin.

The Indian team was supposed to visit Pakistan this month, a senior official said. Under Article VIII of the Treaty, both commissioners are mandated to undertake, once every five years, a general tour of inspection of the rivers for ascertaining the facts connected with various developments and works on both sides.