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NEW DELHI, May 27

TWO days ahead of the annual Indus Water Treaty dialogue opening here, India today ruled out any third party mediation in the talks as suggested by Pakistan.

"We are against any third party mediation. These talks are a regular feature between the officials of the two countries. The Pakistani delegation would arrive in New Delhi for the talks on May 29 and there would not be any other party to the dialogue," the Secretary, Water Resources, Mr A.K. Goswamy, said on the sidelines of a seminar on `Water Management' organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

The two sides will review the functioning of the Indus Water Treaty under which India and Pakistan share waters from the five major western rivers - the Indus, the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Sutlej and the Ravi — that flow from the Himalayas into the Arabian Sea. Pakistan, being the lower riparian State, is dependent on the waters from these rivers allowed to flow through, by India. The upcoming meeting would be the 87th round between the two countries since the treaty became operational in 1960.

Earlier, speaking at the seminar, the Union Water Resources Minister, Mr Arjun Charan Sethi, called for a holistic approach towards efficient water management in the country, involving public, private and other stakeholders. He said greater private sector participation in water management would generate innovative ideas for effective management.

Addressing the gathering, the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, blamed the demise of community participation in conserving water resources for the present day problems.

"Earlier, water was a private resource, so it was conserved. Now that the Government has taken over, it is being exploited. I have seen the end of the institution of `Panghat' in the country. In my home State, Rajasthan, fetching water used to be a daily social event. It is distressing to see now how an element of nature has been separated from the citizens," Mr Singh said.

In another session at the seminar, the Chairman of the National Taskforce on Interlinking of Rivers, Mr Suresh Prabhu, said the water problem will have to be tackled through a combination of supply-side intervention by the Government and demand-side management by the consumers.

"One has to examine the entire gamut of technical, financial and policy issues. It is perceived that the Government can solve the problem, but I think that the Government's role should be limited to policy formulation and augmenting the supply. After that, it is for the community to tackle the problem through involvement of all the stakeholders," Mr Prabhu said.

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