Manali, Sep 21 (IANS): A three-member Pakistani delegations of water experts reached this Himachal Pradesh town Sunday to inspect an upcoming hydropower project in the Lahaul Valley, an official said.
"The delegation, led by Pakistan's Indus Waters Commissioner Mirza Asif Beg, would visit the 120-MW Miyar hydropower project near Udaipur town in Lahaul-Spiti district Monday," Central Water Commission regional director P. Dorje Gyamba, who is accompanying the team, told IANS here.
The project is being commissioned by private firm Moser Baer in the Miyar Valley on a tributary of the Chandrabhaga river.
The Indian team accompanying the Pakistani delegation included Indus Water Commissioner K. Vohra and senior joint commissioner P.K. Saxena.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 with the support of the World Bank to settle water issues between the two neighbouring countries.
Official sources said the purpose of the Pakistani team's visit is to ascertain whether any diversion has been made in the original flow of the Chandrabhaga, which later enters Jammu and Kashmir and there it's known as the Chenab.
"We are hopeful that India will show some flexibility on (Pakistan's) reservations over the building of new dams in India," Pakistan-based daily Express Tribune said, quoting Baig.
During the five-day trip, the delegation will also visit four "controversial sites" on the Chenab river where New Delhi is planning to construct new dams, said the paper.
Reiterating that Pakistan's objections over the design of Kishanganga dam were logical, Baig said that some serious doubts pertaining to the controversial project - particularly regarding the Neelum distributary point - and other dams on the Chenab river have already been allayed.
The paper quoting Baig said his delegation would try their best to resolve all issues during their stay in India. But at the same time, he admitted that Islamabad would have no choice but to approach the International Court of Justice if New Delhi did not entertain their "fair" demands.