Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

India wants to keep third parties out of water treaty with Pakistan - sources

Pakistan is concerned that India’s planned hydropower dams will cut flows on the river, which feeds 80% of its irrigated agriculture.

India wants to keep third parties out of water treaty with Pakistan - sources

India has asked Pakistan to change a decades-old water-sharing agreement by barring third parties from intervening in disputes, an Indian government source said, a suggestion likely to rile Islamabad.

The nuclear-armed neighbours and foes have been arguing over hydroelectric projects on the shared Indus river and its tributaries for many years - a dispute exacerbated by their standoff over disputed Kashmir.


Pakistan is concerned that India's planned hydropower dams will cut flows on the river, which feeds 80% of its irrigated agriculture. Over the years it has asked for a neutral expert and then an arbitration court to intervene.

India has accused Pakistan of dragging out the complaints process, and says the construction of its Kishanganga and Ratle Hydro Electric projects is allowed by the six-decade-old Indus Water Treaty.

An Indian government source said on Friday New Delhi had served Pakistan a notice to modify the treaty and wanted to meet to start resolving the long-running dispute within 90 days.

Asked what modification New Delhi wanted, a second source said: “Whatever small differences that may come up, how they can be resolved without the involvement of any third party since it is a bilateral treaty. A third party should not be required.”

The Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The Indus Water Treaty, put together by the World Bank, was signed in 1960 and has survived wars even though differences over its implementation have arisen frequently.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been frozen since 2019 due to tensions over Kashmir.

But there have been indications of a thaw this month with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling for talks and India inviting Pakistan's foreign minister to a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) that it is hosting in May.

(Reuters)

More For You

Experts suspect engine failure or bird hit in Air India crash

Damage at a building following the Air India plane crash, in Ahmedabad. (PTI Photo)

Experts suspect engine failure or bird hit in Air India crash

THE failure of both engines, or a bird hit soon after take-off could be among the probable causes that led to the fatal crash of a London-bound Air India aircraft with 242 people onboard, experts have said.

Three senior wide-body pilots, who are also instructors, said from observing videos of the crash available publicly, it appears the engines could not gain the required thrust needed for the take-off.

Keep ReadingShow less
British national survives Ahmedabad Air India crash

Rescue and relief work underway following the Air India plane crash, in Ahmedabad. (PTI Photo)

British national survives Ahmedabad Air India crash

ONE survivor walked away from the Air India aircraft that crashed at Ahmedabad airport earlier this morning (12), according to the latest reports from India.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, a UK national, was in seat 11A of the Air India Flight 171 bound for London Gatwick when it crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad with 242 people on board.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India crash: Former Gujarat chief minister Rupani was on aircraft

FILE PHOTO: Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani. (PTI Photo)

Air India crash: Former Gujarat chief minister Rupani was on aircraft

FORMER Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was believed to be on board the London-bound Air India plane that crashed near the Ahmedabad airport soon after take-off on Thursday (12), a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.

"Vijay Rupani was going to London by the Air India flight," senior BJP leader Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told reporters in Ahmedabad. "I am going to the city civil hospital to inquire about him," he added.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India crash: Police collect 204 dead bodies

Police said they had collected 204 dead bodies (PTI photo)

Air India crash: Police collect 204 dead bodies

  • All 242 passengers on board believed to have been killed in the Air India crash AI-171 in Ahmedabad
  • Air India passenger hotline numbers - 1800 5691 444 and for foreign nationals +91 8062779200
  • There were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London Gatwick
  • Contact @HCI_London on the emergency number 07768765035 with regard to emergency visa assistance to travel to India if needed

POLICE in Ahmedabad said they had collected 204 dead bodies after the London-bound Air India aircraft with 242 people on board crashed into residential buildings after takeoff on Thursday (12).

“We have found 204 bodies,” city police commissioner GS Malik said, adding that 41 injured people were “under treatment”.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer says scenes of Air India plane crash 'devastating'

Keir Starmer. (Photo by JORDAN PETTITT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer says scenes of Air India plane crash 'devastating'

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Thursday (12) expressed his anguish following a plane crash involving a London-bound Air India flight with 53 British nationals among 242 on board, shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport.

"The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” Starmer said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less