In a significant development to ease tension on water issues, India has agreed to allow Pakistan to inspect two under-construction hydropower plants on the Indus in Kashmir to allay Islamabad’s concerns over their designs.

The agreement was reached at the two-day talks between Indus Water Commissioners of the two countries that concluded in Lahore on Friday. It indicated that bilateral talks under the Indus Waters Treaty were making gradual progress, an official spokesman here observed.

During the periodic talks between the Indus Water Commissioners of the two countries in May, Pakistan had demanded that its officials be allowed to visit the sites of Nimmo Bazgo and Chutak hydropower plants and both countries had agreed to discuss the matter in July.

The two sides also agreed to jointly inspect flood embankments on the Ravi on both sides of the border. On the first day of the talks, another significant gain was achieved when both sides agreed in principle to put in place a telemetry system on the western rivers to record and transfer real-time data.

A Pakistani official said there had been some progress in certain areas, which would help bridge the trust gap on India’s water projects on the three eastern rivers, allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 treaty by the World Bank.

The officials of the two countries also discussed quality of water being released by India. Pakistan raised the issue of inflows of polluted water from India in detail and asked Indian officials to take measures to stop contamination of waters of Hadiara and Kasur drains and Jhelum.

Pakistan firmly holds that polluted water has been flowing from the Indian side. India agreed to a joint inspection of the polluted water under the Indus Water Commission.

Indian Commissioner Aranga Nathan reassured his Pakistani counterpart Jamaat Ali Shah that he would take up the issue with the department concerned in India.

The two teams also discussed proposals to make the commission more effective to allay a perception that the water pact is losing its utility.

They also reviewed issues relating to the sharing of flood data with Indian officials denying that they had released floodwaters without giving prior information to Pakistan.

Washington, July 24
The US has refrained from making any comment on Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's three-year extension of service, saying that it is an internal matter of that country. "It was a matter for and a decision by the civilian government of Pakistan," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said at his daily news briefing.

Stratfor, a US-based intelligence analyst organisation, said Kayani's extension is a good news for the Obama Administration.

General Kayani has played a leading role in efforts to improve the political and security circumstances in Pakistan as well as bilateral relations with the US, especially, in the context of Afghanistan, it said.

"The shift in the Pakistani attitude towards taking an aggressive stance against jihadists within its borders is a very nascent development and requires continuity of leadership, especially, when it is not clear that a new army chief would necessarily pursue the current policy with the same vigour," the organisation said.

"This is one of those situations where individuals — at least in the short term — do matter in geopolitics." The US embassy in Pakistan had earlier denied reports that it had any role to play in the extension of Kayani's tenure.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had met him during her trip to Islamabad early this week. "I've had a number of very long, substantive meetings with General Kayani and today was the latest. We have very frank and open exchanges. I understand the challenges that they are facing and have a lot of appreciation for how they're addressing them," Clinton told the Fox News in an interview after the meeting.

"So, we had a very broad discussion about Afghanistan, what is the best way to secure peace and stability in Afghanistan. We talked about the recent dialogue between India and Pakistan and got their views on that. It was a really broad, comprehensive discussion," Clinton added. — PTI

Washington, July 24
Substantive and regular high-level talks between India and Pakistan should continue as it is in the interest of the United States, says Obama Administration official.

"They (India and Pakistan) are both friends and allies of the United States. It is in our interest to see the kind of substantive exchanges and dialogue that is occurring at a high level between the two countries now on a regular basis," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at his daily news briefing.

"That is very encouraging. We understand that there are difficult issues that will over time, you know, be a subject of that ongoing dialogue. But you know, we can certainly continue as we always have to encourage India to sit down, talk at high-levels, engage in the issues that have created tensions between the two countries in the past," he said in response to a question.

The US will like to see both the countries to co-operate together along with others in the region to combat terrorism, the official said.

He added that the pace of these steps are to be decided by New Delhi and Islamabad. — PTI

Kabul, July 24
Five American troops died today in bombings in southern Afghanistan where international forces are stepping up the fight against the Taliban, officials said.

Four of the victims died in a single blast, NATO said in a statement without specifying nationalities nor providing further details. A fifth service member was killed in a separate attack in the south, NATO said.

US officials confirmed all five were Americans. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under rules regarding casualty identification. The latest deaths bring to 75 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month, including 56 Americans.

The US-led force is ramping up operations against the Taliban in their southern strongholds, hoping to enable the Afghan government to expand its control in the volatile region. Rising casualty tolls, however, are eroding support for the war even as President Barack Obama has send thousands of reinforcements to try to turn back the Taliban.

On Tuesday, an international conference in Kabul endorsed President Hamid Karzai’s plan for Afghan security forces to assume responsibility for protecting the country by the end of 2014. Obama has pledged to begin removing US troops starting in July 2011, although he has linked the drawdown to security conditions on the ground. — AP

At a time when political parties in the Constituent Assembly were unable to elect the new Prime Minister even after the second round of poll fray, President Ram Baran Yadav on Saturday expressed his serious concerns in this regard.

In a meeting with acting Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Yadav cautioned him about the possible wrong impression that might spread among the people against the parliamentary system and credibility of the political parties if they fail to elect even after holding repeated rounds of election, said President’s Press Adviser Rajendra Dahal issuing a statement after the meeting.

“The President and the Prime Minister discussed about the current political situation and possible way out to create credible situation and forge consensus among the political parties to end the impasse,” the statement read.

However, acting Prime Minister and leader of CPN-UML Nepal stressed the need of political consensus among political parties to form national unity government.

He also reportedly said there was no meaning of forming majority government since he himself had stepped down from the government even after commanding clear majority in the parliament.

A sea lion named Neron is part of an animal-assisted therapy for patients with a neurobehavioral developmental disorder at the Rio Safari Park in Spain — Reuters

18 militants killed in South Waziristan
PESHAWAR: The US drones fired a volley of missiles at a terrorist compound in Pakistan’s restive South Waziristan region on Saturday killing 18 militants, including foreign fighters. Sixteen militants were killed instantly, while two more bodies were later pulled out of the rubble of the compound in the Angoor Adda area bordering Afghanistan, officials said. The strike came as the US Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Islamabad for discussions with the Pakistani military top brass. — PTI