Washington, April 02: Rejecting the Pakistani demand for American mediation on its water dispute with India, a top Obama Administration official has said that Islamabad has the option to go to the independent arbitration panel set up for the issue.
“If Pakistan believes that India is violating the Indus Waters Treaty, then Pakistan should avail itself of the opportunity to submit whatever grievances it has to the independent arbitration panel that has been set up by the Indus Waters Treaty,” the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake told foreign journalists here yesterday.
“We are not going to get involved in bilateral issues related to water, because I think the World Bank is the best mechanism for that,” Blake said in response to a question at a news briefing at Foreign Press Center.
–PTI