Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said on Thursday that Islamabad and New Delhi exchanged the lists of their respective nuclear installations, continuing the annual practice under an agreement signed between the two nations in 1988.
The FO detailed in a statement that Pakistan handed over a list of 257 Indian prisoners (58 civil and 199 fishermen) to the High Commission of India in Islamabad.
In pursuance of the Agreement on Consular Access, 2008, both sides are required to share the lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on January 1 and July 1, every year.
Andrabi also addressed India’s recent activity regarding hydroelectric projects, and said that under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), India could not misuse its restricted allowance for unilaterally building any hydroelectric projects on the western rivers.
He made these remarks while responding to a question about India’s approval of the 260-megawatt Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project on the Chenab River in Kishtwar district of India-held Jammu and Kashmir.
The IWT is a water-distribution agreement between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank and was signed in Karachi on Sept 19, 1960 by President Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The treaty gives India complete rights to waters of the eastern rivers (Ravi, Sutlej and Beas) and gives Pakistan the rights over the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) with limited allowance for use of water by India from the western rivers for purposes of, among others, power generation.
In his remarks, Andrabi said, “We have seen these media reports regarding Indian plans to construct the Dulhasti Stage-II hydroelectric [project] on the Chenab River. Obviously, these reports raise serious concerns as no prior information or notification was shared with Pakistan with regard to this project.”
He further said that sharing of this information was mandated by the IWT.
“Such acts of commission and omission yet again exemplify a complete disregard of international law and bilateral treaties. The Pakistani commissioner for Indus water has sought clarification from his counterpart in India regarding the nature, scope and technical details of the reported projects, and he also wishes to ascertain whether this constitutes a new run-of-the-river project, an alteration or additional work on an existing plant,” he said.
He said that under the IWT, India could not misuse its “restricted allowance” for unilaterally building any hydroelectric projects on the western rivers.
“Any such project on the western river is subject to strict design and operational controls as well as information sharing requirements,” he said.
“In the absence of formal communication from the Indian side, Pakistan is unable to access the project’s conformity with the treaty provisions. We, therefore, call upon India to urgently return to treaty compliance and respond to the queries raised by our Indus water commissioner in his latest as well as his earlier communications.”
He said that Pakistan reiterated that IWT remained a binding international agreement. He said that Pakistan remained committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes with India but would “never compromise on our existential water rights”.
In response to a question about the recent US arms sales to Taiwan, Andrabi said that Pakistan has “consistently supported China, in all matters of its core interests, including Taiwan”.
He stressed that Pakistan will continue to “adhere to the One-China principle and in that way, we regard Taiwan as an inalienable part of China”.
“We would urge all relevant countries to abide by their historical commitments, take steps to foster peace, security and development in Taiwan,” he said.
He further stated: “We would also urge them to refrain from measures that may aggravate tensions or undermine peace and stability in the region”.
The FO spokesperson also recalled that “during a press briefing of the foreign minister on Saturday, a few colleagues had asked about the issue of stranded Pakistani nationals in Afghanistan due to border closure”.
Addressing the issue, he said that “15 students and another 291 individuals had safely returned to Pakistan”.
“We are in contact with the Afghan authorities,” he added.
“You may note that a total of 1,199 Pakistanis approached our embassy in Kabul seeking assistance for their return; these include 549 students and 402 [other] individuals,” he said.