<P> Black also made a distinction between the "functional" and "political" aspects of the Indus dispute . In his correspondence with Indian and Pakistan leaders, Black asserted that the Indus dispute could most realistically be solved if the functional aspects of disagreement were negotiated apart from political considerations . He envisioned a group that tackled the question of how best to utilize the waters of the Indus Basin, leaving aside questions of historic rights or allocations . </P> <P> Black proposed a Working Party made up of Indian, Pakistani and World Bank engineers . The World Bank delegation would act as a consultative group, charged with offering suggestions and speeding dialogue . In his opening statement to the Working Party, Black spoke of why he was optimistic about the group's success: </P> <P> One aspect of Mr. Lilienthal's proposal appealed to me from the first . I mean his insistence that the Indus problem is an engineering problem and should be dealt with by engineers . One of the strengths of the engineering profession is that, all over the world, engineers speak the same language and approach problems with common standards of judgment . </P> <P> Black's hopes for a quick resolution to the Indus dispute were premature . While the Bank had expected that the two sides would come to an agreement on the allocation of waters, neither India nor Pakistan seemed willing to compromise their positions . While Pakistan insisted on its historical right to waters of all the Indus tributaries and that half of West Punjab was under threat of desertification, the Indian side argued that the previous distribution of waters should not set future allocation . Instead, the Indian side set up a new basis of distribution, with the waters of the Western tributaries going to Pakistan and the Eastern tributaries to India . The substantive technical discussions that Black had hoped for were stymied by the political considerations he had expected to avoid . </P>

Indus water treaty signed between india and pakistan