Thursday, May 12 2005 22:41 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Asserting that India has never violated the Indus Water Treaty, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (May 12, 2005) said Government is preparing to provide all the information and technical details that may be required by the World Bank neutral expert to make a comprehensive assessment of the Baglihar hydro power project in Jammu and Kashmir.

After Pakistan sought its arbitration, the World Bank earlier this week named Swiss national Prof Raymond Lafitte as its neutral expert to resolve the dam issue.

Singh noted that under the terms of the 1960 Treaty, the World Bank was obliged to appoint a neutral expert even if one of the parties made a representation.

"We had felt that a reference to the World Bank (by Pakistan) was pre-mature because further technical discussions between our experts could have led to a narrowing of differences," he said in the Lok Sabha during a special discussion on foreign affairs.

Singh said he had conveyed to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf if Islamabad could come up with "convincing and technically" verifiable objection to any aspect of the project, India would be willing to consider "appropriate design modifications".

India, he said, has never violated the Treaty which has stood the test of time for the past 45 years. "We intend to adhere to the Treaty in letter and spirit", Singh added.