Ajay Banga meets PM Modi, says World Bank can't interfere in Indus Water Treaty issue

NEW DELHI: World Bank president Ajay Banga met PM Narendra Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday and said the multi-lateral agency can't interfere in the Indus Water Treaty which has been put on hold by India amid rising hostility from Pakistan. Sources described Banga's meeting with the PM as a courtesy call, while he had a longer discussion with Sitharaman. It is unclear what transpired during these two crucial meetings.

Banga said the agreement is between two countries and in case they disagree, World Bank's role is that of a facilitator to find a neutral expert or an arbitrator to settle a dispute. "We have to pay the fees of those guys through a trust fund that was set up at the Bank at the time of the creation of the treaty. That's our role. We have no role to play beyond that," Banga told CNBC-TV18. The agency had brokered the treaty in 1960. Banga is slated to visit UP to discuss a World Bank project. tnn