US to help India, Pakistan sort out water row

The United States has said it will work with India and Pakistan to help the two countries overcome their differences on water issues which are a 'potential for conflict'.

"We want to help countries avoid conflict over water. The potential for conflict over it exists not only in Pakistan and in India, but in other places as well," said Maria Otero, the US undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs.

He said the US will take up the issue of water-sharing in its dialogue with the two South Asian neighbours so as to prevent any tension in the region. The subject is going to be one of the six pillars of the high level US-Pak strategic dialogue that is scheduled to be held in Washington on Wednesday.

"The issue is the recognition of water as a potential source of conflict in our elevated effort to address it with greater priority than we have in the past," she said in her interaction with the State Department Press Corps on the occasion of World Water Day.

"Whether it (the US) will become the mediator in any particular conflict is not something that we're prepared to say right now," she said.

Otero added, "I think we need to work on this and find ways to make sure that, especially in the Pakistan-Indian case, we can help move that situation forward to an improved situation".

India and Pakistan are engaged in a tussle over sharing of water of common rivers, with Islamabad accusing New Delhi of choking its water supplies by building dams on Indus river.