A 10 member team of International court of Arbitration, accompanied by Indo Pakistan delegation, arrived here today on a four-day tour to inspect the under-construction Kishanganga Hydropower and storage project near the Line of Control (LoC) in Gurez sector.
The international team alongwith 10 member delegation of India and nine-member team of Pakistan headed by their respective Indus Water Commissioners is scheduled to inspect the 330-MW project in Bandipora district tomorrow, official sources told here.
They said the high-level delegation arrived through the ‘Aman Sethu’ (peace bridge) in Uri sector along the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road which was thrown open for weekly bus service to enable divided families to meet each other in April, 2005 as part of confidence building measure in the wake of composite dialogue between India and Pakistan.
Kishanganga hydropower project is being build on Kishanganga river, a tributary of river Jhelum which flows into Pakistan, and was objected by Islamabad claiming that the project violates Indus water Treaty reached between the two countries.
India has maintained that the project was being built in accordance with the 1960 Treaty which allows New Delhi to undertake construction of power projects on the three major rivers flowing into Pakistan from Kashmir.
The work on the power project started in 1994 but could not be completed till date due to the objections raised by Pakistan. All attempts to reach out a bilaterial settlement failed.
New Delhi is determined to complete the project in February, 2014.
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