World Bank asks Pak to accept India’s offer of appointing a neutral expert on Kishan Ganga dispute

The World Bank has asked Pakistan that it should accept India’s offer of appointing a “neutral expert” on the Kishanganga dam dispute instead of instead of insisting to refer it to the International Court of Arbitration (ICA), according to a media report today.
Pakistan considers the construction of the Kishanganga dam in Kashmir over the waters flowing into the western rivers a violation of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960. It wants the dispute to be referred to the ICA.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in a fresh communication last week advised the Pakistan government to withdraw from its stand of taking the matter to the ICA, Dawn reported.
The bank had on November 10, 2016 even picked a US chief justice, the rector of Imperial College, London, and the World Bank president for appointing chairman of the court to resolve the dispute over the dam, the report said.
India says there are differences between it and Pakistan over the design of the dam and, therefore, the matter should be addressed by some neutral experts.

A source privy to the development told the paper that Pakistan believed that acceding to India’s proposal of referring the dispute to neutral experts or withdrawing from its stand would mean closing the doors of arbitration and surrendering its right of raising disputes before international courts.
“It will become a precedent and every time a dispute emerges between Pakistan and India, the latter will always opt for dispute resolution through neutral experts,” the source said.