Pakistan is going through a political turmoil because of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s alleged involvement in Panama Papers scam. Its relation with neighbouring India, too, has deteriorated in recent times. Keeping in mind the current regional political scenario, both Islamabad and New Delhi decided not to hold talks and to wait for the right opportunity. However, senior officials of the two countries have changed their mind and planned to hold a meeting in order to discuss two hydroelectric projects, to be implemented under the Indus Waters Treaty.

The decision is undoubtedly exceptional. According to diplomatic sources, the meeting between the two arch-rivals would be possible because of international initiative as it would take place in Washington under the aegis of the World Bank (WB). After the terror attacks in Uri (on September 18, 2016) and India’s “surgical strikes” against Pakistan-based militants in late-2016, New Delhi planned to cancel the Indus Waters Treaty. However, India didn’t make any such move as the Treaty serves the interest of Kashmir. Now, the Narendra Modi government has decided to resolve the outstanding issues with Islamabad through discussions.
Dr Amarjit Singh – the Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Water Resources and River Development – has already arrived in Washington to take part in the meeting. Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Singh Sarna, too, will attend the meeting scheduled to take place on Monday night. Reports suggest that top Pakistani officials also reached America.
Meanwhile, Vice President (for the South Asian Region) of the WB Annette Dixon has congratulated both Pakistan and India, saying in a statement that the global lender would always help the two countries normalise ties. Dixon also said that it would be important for Islamabad and New Delhi to respect the Treaty.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das