Pak, India Indus commissioners to meet on March 23, 24

NEW DELHI: The Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan will meet here on March 23 and 24 to discuss a host of issues, including Islamabad's concerns to the design of Indian hydropower projects on the Chenab River, a top official said on Sunday.

A foreign media report said that this will be the annual meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission. Under the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty, both the commissioners are required to meet at least once a year alternately in India and Pakistan.

"The meeting will take place in New Delhi on March 23-24," P K Saxena, India's Indus Commissioner, told PTI. The last year's meeting, which was earlier scheduled to be held in New Delhi in March 2020, was cancelled for the first time since the signing of the Treaty, in view of the pandemic situation.

The meeting will take place after a gap of nearly two-and-half years. The last meeting took place in Lahore in August 2018. The Pakistani delegation will be led by Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Meher Ali Shah. The Indian delegation will be led by Saxena.