Highlights
This is the 116th meeting of the Indus Water Commissioners
The last such meet happened in Lahore in August 2018
New Delhi: After a gap of over two and a half years, the Indus Water commissioners of India and Pakistan will meet in New Delhi from March 23 to 24.
Under the Indus water treaty, the commissioners are required to meet annually to discuss issues pertaining to the agreement. The last such meet happened in Lahore in August 2018.
This is the 116th meeting of the Indus Water Commissioners which alternates between the two countries.
The Indian side will be led by Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters Pradeep Kumar Saxena, while the Pakistan side will be led by its Indus Water commissioner Syed Muhammad Meher Ali Shah.
Season Of Quiet An Indian Army patrol along the LoC in Kashmir. Unchecked firing kills both security personnel and civilians. Photograph by PTI outlookindia.com 2021-03-19T13:41:52+05:30
After the deep freeze in India-Pakistan ties since the 2016 Uri attack and the further ratcheting up of tension along the LoC after the Balakot airstrike the decision to respect the 2003 ceasefire agreement, announced in a joint statement by the Director General of Military Operations, was a startling one. The guns fell silent along the LoC since the midnight of February 24/25. But is this another false start at peace-making by the two subcontinental rivals, or is there a sliver of hope, a tiny crack in the thick wall of hostility?
Express News Service
JAIPUR: It was a moment to cherish as two Pakistani Hindu women, married to Rajput youths in Rajasthan, were finally reunited with their husbands on Tuesday, two years after their weddings.
When they arrived at their in-laws homes in Barmer and Jaisalmer districts, the young brides were welcomed in a traditional way in a festive atmosphere full of joy and emotion.
Chagan Kanwar, wife of Mahendra Singh, and Kailash Bai, wife of Nepal Singh Bhati had got married in January 2019. But the two brides could not come with their grooms to India after marriage as they could not get Visas. Their weddings were quickly followed by the Pulwama terror attack and the Balakot airstrike. Given the India-Pakistan tensions that erupted, the young couples were forced to live separately on the two sides of the border.
On February 25, Director Generals of Military Operations of India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control and all other sectors. It’s a welcome step. That it came after 12,969 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan since 2018, killing hundreds of civilians and security forces and destroying several military facilities, homes, schools and infrastructure on both sides of the border is a sad commentary on Pakistan Army’s visceral hatred for India since 1948.
The ceasefire neither came suddenly nor was it clinched by informal contacts between power brokers, back-channel diplomacy or nudge from the US and China. It began taking shape when Pakistan realised the futility of pursuing its twin objectives of keeping India destabilised and annexing J&K by using separatists and terror attacks. Its game plan went awry as it found itself pitched against an unyielding Indian political leadership it had encountered never before.
Read more about National Conference s Abdullah pitches for thaw in Indo-Pakistan relations on Business Standard. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are praying that the recent agreement between India and Pakistan on ceasefire holds as it will bring them some relief