Indian delegation in Pakistan for water talks
Lahore, Aug 28 : A nine-member Indian delegation, led by Water Commissioner P.K. Saxena, arrived here on Tuesday to attend a two-day meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission set to begin on Wednesday.
The talks will be the first official engagement between the two countries since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office this month.
Pakistan Water Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah welcomed the Indian delegation at the Wagah border and will lead his side during the discussions at the Lahore headquarters of the National Engineering Services of Pakistan, Dawn online reported.
During the talks, Pakistan would raise its concerns over the designs of 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on two different tributaries of River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir being built by India, the daily said.
Islamabad says that that New Delhi violated the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty by starting construction of reservoirs at a time when the country was reeling from severe water shortage.
Pakistan wants India to either modify them to make them compliant to the Treaty or put the projects on hold until an understanding is reached between the two sides.
According to reports, the Indian delegation was initially supposed to visit Pakistan in July, but later the meeting was postponed.
During the talks, the two sides will finalize the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners.
The water commissioners of Pakistan and India are required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to project sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan has been facing a lot of problems in timin meetings and visits, an official told Dawn daily.
The two-day session was also expected to discuss ways and means for timely and smooth sharing of hydrological data on shared rivers.
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Cricketer Rinku Singh to marry Samajwadi Party MP Priya Saroj
Jaunpur (UP) (PTI): Indian cricketer Rinku Singh is set to get hitched to Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Priya Saroj, according to her family.
Priya Saroj's father and SP MLA from Kerakat Tufani Saroj told PTI that his family held "meaningful talks" with Singh's father in Aligarh on January 16 regarding the marriage of their children and both sides agreed to the matrimonial alliance.
No ring ceremony or pre-wedding programme has been held so far, he said.
According to Tufani Saroj, a three-time MP, his daughter and Singh got acquainted through one of her friends whose father is also a cricketer.
"Rinku and Priya have known each other for more than a year now. They both liked each other but needed the consent of their families for their relationship. Both the families have agreed to this marriage," he said.
Dates of engagement and wedding will be decided after the Parliament session. The engagement will be held in Lucknow, he said.
Singh will be playing the T20I series against England from January 22. He will also be playing in the IPL after this. It will be ensured that the wedding functions do not impact his game, he added.
According to sources, the two families met at Singh's house in Ozone City, Aligarh and finalised the marriage by exchanging 'shagun' and gifts.
Priya Saroj is a resident of Karkhiyaon village in Varanasi. She has been associated with the SP for several years now and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Machhlishahr constituency in Jaunpur district last year at the age of 25.
A former Supreme Court lawyer, Priya Saroj first shot into the limelight while campaigning for her father in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
She graduated in arts from Delhi University before getting a law degree from Amity University, Noida.
