Both sides had already completed the process proposed in the IWT and approached the World Bank only after the commission declared it “a dispute” as required, experts were quoted as saying.
“Dragging it through an already exhausted process will not help,” an expert said.
“Pakistan was seeking a court of arbitration because only the proposed court had the authority to consider both legal and technical aspects of the dispute. A neutral expert could only consider the technical aspects,” the daily said.
Pakistan argues that the designs of the two Indian projects violate both legal and technical provisions of the treaty. India, however, has opposed Pakistan’s efforts for setting up a court of arbitration. Earlier this week, the World Bank announced pausing of the two separate processes initiated under the IWT to allow the two countries to consider alternative ways to resolve their disagreements.
(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:oneindia.com)
