Govt urged to take up water issue with India
09 February, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat while urging the government to take up the issue of ‘water terrorism’ with New Delhi, has questioned the government’s acceptance of the Indian offer for negotiations without talking parliament into confidence on the scope of these talks. Raising the issue on a point of order in the National Assembly, Faisal Saleh Hayat said the government had been repeatedly saying that it was resumption of the Composite Dialogue but India says the talks are terrorism-specific. “If the Indian prime minister is taking the political parties on board on this issue then the Government of Pakistan should also do the same,” he said. He said the government seems enthusiastic about the resumption of talks with India but it should be specific. “All government functionaries, including the president, the prime minister and the interior minister have repeatedly said there is evidence of India’s involvement in Pakistan, so there is need to clear all things,” he added. Referring to the New Delhi’s view on dialogue on terrorism, he said if talks with India are terrorism-specific then the issue of water terrorism should also be raised. He said India is constructing a dam on the Chenab River, which is bigger than Terbela and Mangla, and once it is completed there will be no water left in the river for Pakistan. “It is water terrorism and we want to know what is Pakistan’s policy on this issue and whether we have contacted the international players on this issue,” he said. End.
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