Indus Water Treaty: Despite ongoing tussle, Pakistan delegation set to arrive in India on Sunday

A Pakistani delegation, led by its Indus Water Commissioner Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah, is all set to arrive on Sunday for a 5-day visit to visit Chenab basin on the Indian side. The visit is Indus Water Treaty-mandated and will take place from January 27-February 1.

The Pakistani delegation will arrive on Sunday via Wagha border and will be received by officials of Central Water Commission and Punjab government. The delegation will be received by India's commissioner for Indus Water PK Saxena in Delhi later in the day. They will be in Jammu from 28th to 31st January. 

The visit was to take place in October of 2018 but was postponed due to local elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

In August 2018, during the 115th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission in Lahore, India and Pakistan agreed to undertake the treaty-mandated tours of the Indus basin on both sides. 

Under Article VIII of the Indus Water Treaty, the Commissioners of both the countries are mandated to undertake a general tour of the rivers in order to ascertain facts connected to various developments and works on the rivers on both sides. 

This visit has to happen every five years. So far, no tour could be held in the current five-year block which ends in March 2020.

The development comes when Pakistan has been stopping Indian cargo flights to Afghanistan. Earlier this week, Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) targetted an Indian boat off the Gujarat coast leading to the death of an Indian fisherman. India strongly condemned the incident and raised the matter with Islamabad.