India and Pakistan have entered a crucial phase in their bilateral engagement with the objective of resolving all outstanding disputes. The significance of this engagement can not be denied as it has strengthened their confidence to move forward on important issues like water management. The optimistic note on which their talks on the Tulbul Navigation project concluded is a positive sign. The two day talks started on June 22 in Islamabad. While describing their meeting as constructive Indian Water Resources Secretary, J. Hari Narayan, and his Pakistani counterpart, Ashfaq Mehmood, emphasised that the talks had provided a "better understanding of each other's view". However, the date for the next round of talks is yet to be worked out.

The Tulbul project is a "navigation lock-cum-control structure" at the mouth of the Wullar Lake. It envisages regulated water release from the natural storage in the lake to maintain a minimum draught of 4.5 feet in the river up to Baramulla, during the lean winter months. This is to ensure year-round navigation from Anantnag to Srinagar and Baramulla, a distance of over 20 km.

The 74 Sq. Km. Wullar Lake (original size 202 Sq. Kms.) is the largest freshwater lake in India, and is situated on the Jhelum; it provides an important means for the transportation of goods and movement of people of Jammu & Kashmir. To sustain navigation throughout the year it is necessary to maintain a minimum depth of water. However, the stretch of 22 km between Sopore and Baramulla becomes non-navigable during the lean winter season with a water depth of only 2.5 ft. For improving navigation, India had started constructing a 439 feet long barrage at the mouth of the lake to ensure the flow of water in winter to 4000 cusecs, with a depth of 4 feet and added storage of 0.3 MAF. Pakistan objected to this project and the construction was halted in 1987. Pakistani apprehensions were based on the following reasons:

(1) A barrage may damage Pakistan's own triple-canal project linking Jhelum and Chenab with the Upper Bari Doab Canal;
(2) A barrage would be a security risk enabling the Indian Army to make crossing the river either easy or difficult, at will, by the controlled release of water;
(3) After constructing the dam, India would control the flow of water into the Jhelum, creating drought and flood situations at will in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan; and
(4) It would ruin Pakistan's agriculture.

According to the Indian government, the project is designed to be a control structure aimed at improving navigation in the Jhelum during winter to connect Srinagar with Baramula for transporting fruits and timber. India has underlined that the barrage would not reduce the quantum of water flow, and that it would also be beneficial to Pakistan for regulating water flow to the Mangla Dam by controlling floods. It would also improve Pakistan's Triple-canal irrigation system as well as increase Pakistan's capacity for power generation at Mangla. However, the Wullar barrage is not a storage project but a control project allowed under the treaty. Moreover, the suspension of work is harming the interests of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and depriving people in Pakistan of irrigation and power benefits that may accrue from the regulated release of water.

Although the Indus Treaty is an excellent example of settling riparian disputes as well as one of the few examples of successful settlement in major international river basin conflicts, there are differences between India and Pakistan over new projects. Pakistan has charged India with violating the Indus Water Treaty though India has denied these charges. The Indus Water Treaty which was signed on September 19, 1960, divided the six rivers of Punjab between India and Pakistan. India got unrestricted use of the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej, and Pakistan got the three western rivers of Chenab, Indus and Jhelum. The Treaty also allows either country to have restricted access for domestic and agricultural use, generation of hydroelectric power through a "run-of-the-river" project, and non-consumptive use including navigation - provided the same quantum of water is returned to the river. The Indian projects promote the process of development without violating the treaty, Tulbul and Baglihar being pertinent examples.

With the emergence of a broader framework for regional economic cooperation and accelerated engagement, India and Pakistan will have to find ways to move forward on such key issues. India and Pakistan must "hinder the hindrances" and come together on such developmental projects in the larger interest of the people of both countries.