Agreement reached on Shahtoot dam, pact to be signed soon: MEA

India and Afghanistan are likely to sign an agreement on building the Shahtoot dam soon, the government said on Friday.

Responding to a question on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s announcement at the Geneva Donors Conference recently that India will be constructing the Shahtoot Dam, MEA’s official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the minister had made the announcement that India and Afghanistan have reached an agreement on the dam. The agreement is expected to be signed shortly, he added.

When asked when would the Nepalese foreign minister visit India, Srivastava said he is expected to be in India shortly for the next joint commission meeting, but the dates for it are yet to be worked out.

New Delhi also slammed Pakistan over its accusations about spreading disinformation.

Responding to questions on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan quoting an EU disinformation lab report to accuse India of subversive activities, the MEA spokesperson said that as a responsible democracy, India does not practice disinformation campaigns. “In fact, if you are looking at disinformation, the best example is the country next door which is circulating fictional and fabricated dossiers and purveys a regular stream of fake news,” he said.

Disinformation is practised particularly by those who have records to hide such as sheltering international wanted terrorists including Osama bin Laden, and seek unsuccessfully to cover up their own tracks such as on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Srivastava said, hitting out at Pakistan.

An investigation by EU DisinfoLab this week has found that several defunct organisations were resurrected and used alongside at least 750 fake media outlets in a vast 15-year campaign to serve Indian interests. The network was designed primarily to “discredit Pakistan internationally” and influence decision-making at the UN Human Rights Council and European Parliament, the report said.