Indus water row: India, Pakistan attend Neutral Expert proceedings at Vienna

Representatives of India and Pakistan attended a meeting of the Neutral Expert proceedings held at the request of India at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Vienna on September 20 and 21, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The MEA cited this as the reason for India's refusal to participate in the parallel proceedings being carried out by an "illegally constituted Court of Arbitration".

New Delhi: India has taken part in a two-day meeting of the Neutral Expert in Vienna that was part of the proceedings aimed at resolving a dispute between New Delhi and Islamabad on the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The meeting in the Austrian capital city was convened by a neutral expert.

Senior advocate Harish Salve was present in the meeting as India's lead counsel in the matter, the MEA said late Thursday.

"A delegation from India, led by Secretary, Department of Water Resources, attended a meeting of the neutral expert proceedings in the Kishenganga and Ratle matter at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Vienna on September 20 and 21," the statement read.

The meeting was convened by the neutral expert appointed on India's request under the aegis of the Indus Waters Treaty and was attended by representatives of India and Pakistan, the MEA said.

"India's participation in this meeting is in line with India's consistent, principled stand that as per the graded mechanism provided for in the Indus Waters Treaty, the neutral expert proceedings are the only valid proceedings at this juncture," it noted.

It is for this reason that India has taken the Treaty-consistent decision to not participate in the parallel proceedings being conducted by an illegally constituted Court of Arbitration on the same set of issues pertaining to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects, the government said.

The ministry said the neutral expert proceedings are ongoing and expected to continue for some time.

"India is committed to engaging in a manner that supports the resolution of issues in accordance with the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty," it said.

India has not cooperated with the Court of Arbitration (CoA) process to resolve the dispute and has insisted on a neutral expert to resolve the dispute.

According to India, the start of the two concurrent processes to resolve the dispute violates the provision of the three-step graded mechanism prescribed in the Indus Waters Treaty.

India has been pushing for the resolution of the dispute through the neutral expert proceedings.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) cited this as the reason for India's refusal to participate in the parallel proceedings being carried out by an "illegally constituted Court of Arbitration".