“As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together bilaterally to resolve their differences,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby.
The spokesman did confirm that US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Pakistan finance minister Ishaq Dar on December 29. While Pakistan says the two officials talked about the Indus Waters Treaty, Kirby today didn’t confirm that either.
The Treaty is a water distribution agreement signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 and brokered by the World Bank. The current dispute revolves around the Kishenganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric plants. India is building the plants on the Kishanganga and Chenab rivers, which Pakistan claims violates the Treaty.
“The Indus Waters Treaty has served, I think as you know, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and Pakistan for now 50 years. We encourage, as we have in the past, India and Pakistan to work together to resolve any differences,” the State Department’s Kirby said today.
