India and Pakistan held meeting of Permanent Indus commission

Team Adda247 and BankersAadda are here with a Current Affairs Special Series for SBI and IBPS interview 2021.  In this series, candidates will be introduced to current affairs topics on a daily basis, which will not only improve their general awareness but also will ensure that the candidates do not lack if any current affairs topic is asked in the interview. Today’s Current Affairs topic is India and Pakistan held meeting of Permanent Indus commission.

India and Pakistan, two border sharing countries held the meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission which is dealing with water rights on the Indus River in New Delhi. The Permanent Indus Commission was set up under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.

The Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters, Mr.Pradeep Kumar Saxena has led the Indian side. The Pakistan delegation had been led by Mr.Syed Muhammad Meher Ali Shah during the two-day talks. The Indus water treaty is a written order between the two commissioners to meet at least once in a year. Last year’s meeting was cancelled in view of the corona virus pandemic which was planned to be held in March in New Delhi. This meeting has been taken place after last meeting which was taken in place in Lahore in August 2018. The talks are being held against the backdrop of defrosting in bilateral relations, which had taken a hit after the 2019 pulwama suicide bombing and a subsequent military standoff.  Last month, the Indian and Pakistan militaries committed again themselves to the 2003 ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, raising hopes for further improvements in bilateral ties. The decision to fix the peace on the volatile LoC was the visible outcome of behind the scenes contact between the two border sharing countries. The delegation of Pakistan’s commission of an eight member on Indus Waters has come for two day meeting of the permanent commission on Indus River waters to discuss with Indian delegation to proposal of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydroelectric plants/projects and other issues.

The Indus Water treaty of 1960 was brokered by World Bank. Even this treaty is also known for the most durable agreements between India and Pakistan and it has survived several wars and disruptions in bilateral relations over the decades.