The Common Interest Council (CCI) meeting concluded in Islamabad after discussing the issue of the six new channels so expelled in the Indo River.
The meeting was originally scheduled for May 2, but Senior Minister of Sindh, Sharjeel Inam Memon, said the federal government convened the meeting for today.
The Chief of the Army, the general also Munir, and the Prime Minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, inaugurated the ambitious Cholistan project to water the lands of South Punjab on February 15 in the middle of a public uproar and strong reserves in Sindh.
After months of protests from several fragments of society, as well as the opposition of Sindh, the federal government on April 23 announced that it was stopping the contentious project until a consensus could be achieved on the subject in the CCI. The decision occurred in the midst of the uncertainty created by the unilateral suspension of India of the Indo Water Treaty (IWT) last week.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the four main provincial ministers attended the CCI meeting today.
The controversial channel project has been included for deliberation, according to a copy of the agenda seen by Dawn.com.
According to the document, the Prime Minister, who also serves as president of CCI, formally approved the agenda of the 52nd Meeting of the Council, which includes reviewing the annual reports of the Board from 2021 to 2024, discussing the recruitment rules for the CCI Secretariat and a review of the annual Nepra reports of 2020 onwards.
The fifth element on the agenda, which will be presented by the Government of Sindh, was “construction of new channels: public declaration of the reference prime minister dated April 25, 2025 and address to convene the CCI meeting according to rule 5 (1) of the CCI procedure rules”.
The membership of the Council includes the Prime Minister, the Federal Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Border Regions, as well as the main ministers of Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a statement issued by its spokesman Husain Mansoor, Memon said a decision would be made on the subject of the channels at the CCI meeting.
“A decision will be made according to the discussion between [PPP Chairman] Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the Prime Minister, and the question of the channels will end, “he said, referring to Friday’s meeting between the allies of the coalition.
The previous meeting amid increasing concerns of merchants and the business community as protests against the project has paralyzed interprovincial traffic by blocking national roads in parts of Sindh.
Legal fraternity has been organizing a sitting at the Bypass Babarloi in the district of Sindh Khairpur since April 18.
Talking with Geographical newsMemon confirmed that the Sindh government had made the request that the meeting was coming due to ongoing protests.
The minister pointed out that the CCI meeting should be convened on May 2, but despite that, “some groups refused to end the protests until the CCI meeting and its [decision’s] Formal announcement ”is made.
“In that, the government of Sindh asked the prime minister to convene the meeting today, and will take place at night in Islamabad,” Memon added.
Responding to a consultation, he said that the provincial government had also requested to call the meeting “soon, but taking into account the state of the country at this time, it was difficult.”
“We had to appeal again as the transport had stopped due to the protests, which resulted in an economic loss for the companies and farmers,” said the minister.
When asked about the Action Plan of the Government of Sindh if the protests on the roads continued even after the CCI meeting, Memon said: “We hope that if we do not give them an excuse, although there was also no excuse before, but the government believes in the dialogue.”
He stressed: “The public interest is important for us at this time, since it was creating problems for the business community and farmers.”
In a statement published by the Sindh information department in X Today, Interior Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar said that the Government recognized the right to peaceful protest, but asked lawyers not to believe difficulties for the public.
He said that legal measures would not be taken against those who protest peacefully and urged lawyers to “monitor criminals around them.”
Conveyors to keep the protest out of Sindh cm house today
To protest the continuous blockade, the All -Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance (APGTA) announced plans to celebrate a manifestation outside the CM house of Sindh in Karachi at 4 pm today (Monday).
Yesterday, Nisar Jafry, from APGTA, said he had received a Memon call, also the Minister of Transportation of Sindh, asking him to cancel today’s demonstration with the assurance that the roads will be clarified soon.
Jafry said that the movement of around 30,000 trucks and tankers was prevented. He said that, on average, a vehicle carries goods worth RS10 million, either to import, export or produce locally.
In his statement, Memon had asked all political parties and the legal community to reopen the roads to guarantee the smooth flow of the transport of goods, so that no one suffers an additional financial or economic loss.
Manufacturers said they have been forced to stop production due to the shortage of raw materials, while port authorities also anticipate severe congestion.
The last months have seen the national protests of political parties, including the ally of the ruling coalition and the residents against the proposed project. The Sindh Assembly also approved a unanimous resolution against the project in March.
