The Indo-Pak Water Resources Secretary-level talks, which were to be held in Islamabad on Tuesday to iron out differences over Tulbul Navigation Project, have been postponed but deliberations between the technical groups of the two countries on tourism and agriculture would go on as scheduled, officials said.
The water talks have been postponed for a later date, as Indian Water Resources Secretary J Hari Narayan had to stay back in New Delhi to deal with the situation arising out of the Narmada Bachao agitation, the officials said.
New dates for the meeting would be fixed later. Narayan along with his delegation was due to arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday for talks, aimed at resolving differences over the construction of Wular Barrage, known as Tulbul Navigation Project, on Jhelum river in Jammu and Kashmir.
The work on the project was stalled in 1986 following objections by Pakistan, which claimed it violated the 1960 Indus Water Treaty.
However, the two-day technical group level talks between the two countries to discuss issues relating to tourism and agriculture would begin on Tuesday as scheduled. While the Indian delegation on Tourism will be led by Additional Director General (Tourism) Rajiv Talwar, the delegation on Agriculture will be headed by Joint Secretary (Agriculture) S L Bhutt.
The two groups were formed as part of the India-Pak Joint Commission, which has been revived last year after a gap of about two decades. The outcome of the talks will be discussed at the plenary session of the commission headed by the foreign ministers of both the countries, which was scheduled to be held in New Delhi on July 22 this year.
More from rediff