The World Bank has “urged” India and Pakistan to agree to mediation on how to proceed in their dispute over two hydropower dam projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
Replying to a strong statement from India that the World Bank, a signatory to the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, was favouring Pakistan by going ahead with an arbitration process, the Bank said it had gone ahead with both countries’ requests.
Conceding that a “draw of lots” was held to appoint three neutral umpires despite India’s objections, a senior World Bank official explained that the decision was a “procedural one.”
“The World Bank Group has a strictly procedural role under the Indus Waters Treaty and the treaty does not allow it to choose whether one procedure [India’s] should take precedence over the other [Pakistan’s]. This is why we drew the lots and proposed potential candidates for the Neutral Expert,” said Senior Vice-President and World Bank Group General Counsel Anne-Marie Leroy.
However, Ms. Leroy admitted that two parallel processes were “unworkable” in the long run, and therefore mediation was required.
The dispute is over the Kishenganga (330 MW) and Ratle (850 MW) hydel plants India is constructing on the Kishenganga and Chenab rivers.
