Sunday, April 17 2005 17:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Asserting that it was committed to the parameters laid down by the Indus Water Treaty, India today (Apr 17, 2005) said that it was prepared to hold technical discussions with Pakistan on the contentious Baglihar hydropower project over river Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir.

During his talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to allay Islamabad's apprehensions on the issue and "unequivocally" stated India's commitment to abide by the parameters laid down by the 1960 Treaty, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said in New Delhi.

He said that New Delhi reaffirmed that it had "no intention of harming the interests of Pakistan" and said that if Islamabad was ready for technical discussions, "we are prepared".

"The Pakistan President was thankful for the assurances", he said.

Following failure of talks early this year, Pakistan had moved the World Bank for appointment of neutral experts but India has insisted on solving the issue bilaterally.

Siachen and Sir Creek

India and Pakistan today also agreed to expedite the processes of resolving the contentious issues of Siachen and Sir Creek.

During their talks, the two sides led by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to see whether resolution of the two issues could be expedited and instruct the officials involved in the process to give "greater degree of urgency and priority so that we can resolve them as soon as possible," Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said in New Delhi.

Observing that the two countries were engaged in the second round of composite dialogue, he said that the two sides agreed to "make every effort possible to find an solution to these issues".