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Vajpayee overrules hawks on Indus Waters treaty

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has overruled objections by hawkish elements in his government to ensure that the crucial meeting on the Indus Waters treaty between India and Pakistan is held on Wednesday 'without any hitch'.

"The prime minister has overruled objections (by some elements) in his government to ensure that the Indo-Pak meeting between the joint commissioners of the two countries is held on Wednesday," a senior government official told rediff.com.

"He (the prime minister) has warned that there should be no undue controversy on the meeting and that it should have no procedural wrangles," he said.

Consequently, the Union Minister of State for Water Resources Bijoya Chakraborty clarified that there was no question of abrogating the treaty as had been reported in a section of the media.

"Such reports are without any basis and the meeting between the two countries will be held on Wednesday," she told rediff.com.

While the commissioner from the Indian side is A C Gupta, his Pakistani counterpart is M Mammen who has already arrived heading a six-member delegation.

Gupta's office, however, could not explain why the meeting had been declared an 'inhouse affair'.

Ever since tensions escalated between New Delhi and Islamabad on the issue of cross-border terrorism, the hawks in the Vajpayee government have been demanding the scrapping of the the treaty in order to 'teach Pakistan a lesson'.

However, experts have warned against any such move, underscoring that it could tarnish India's image in the eyes of the international community.

The treaty was signed between Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1960.

The treaty lays down that the commission would meet at least once a year alternately in each country.

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