SUKKUR: Islamabad is expected to raise concerns over three controversial hydropower projects in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including Pakal Dul, Talnai, and Karo, with Delhi during the talks under the Indus water agreement.

“Pakistan has concerns over India’s three big projects on Chenab River. There will also be the talk of early warning of floods in rivers coming from India during the talks,” Indus Water Commissioner Mehr Ali Shah, the head of the Pakistani delegation said in a statement.

A five-member Pakistani delegation departed for India on Sunday to discuss issues related to the sharing of water between the two countries, as both countries struggle with the impacts of climate change with the prolonged heatwave and heavy rain.

The Pakistani delegation left India via the Wagah border and would return by June 1. The dialogue would go on for two days in New Delhi. Moreover, sharing of field data would also come under discussion in the meeting.

The Indian delegation, in its three-day visit in March, had assured the Pakistani side of taking their team to a visit to its controversial hydropower projects. The Indian side would be led by Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters Pradeep Kumar Saxena.

Such visits are in fulfilment of the implementation of the Indus Water Treaty, which Pakistan and India signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory. The treaty sets out the mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers.