Pakistan has a sound case on Baglihar: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan had confidently approached the World Bank (WB) on the Baglihar dam issue because its position in the matter was very strong, said Foreign Office Spokesman Masood Ahmed Khan on Friday.

“After displaying a great deal of patience and tolerance, Pakistan was compelled to approach the WB due to India’s negative attitude,” the spokesman told a private television channel. He said Pakistan had wanted to resolve the matter according to the Indus Water Treaty but India had failed to cooperate.

Mr Khan said that as a partner in the treaty, WB would try to resolve the issue and that Pakistan could also approach the Court of Arbitration if required, although he hoped the issue would be settled without having to resort to that. At a time when India and Pakistan were moving towards confidence building measures, a bilateral settlement of this matter would have strengthened the process, Mr Khan said.

He said that although it had not been part of the composite dialogue, the Baglihar issue had strengthened suspicions of analysts and the masses regarding the future of dialogue and India’s sincerity to solving contentious issues like Kashmir. The spokesman said Pakistan would continue to negotiate settlements of all the issues between the two countries, adding that confrontation was not in anyone’s interest. app

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