ISLAMABAD, July 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Pakistani and Indian officials here Thursday began their two-day talks on a controversial dam and described the first round of talks productive and positive, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. 

    Pakistan's Water and Power Secretary Ashfaq Mehmood and his Indian counterpart V.K. Duggal led their respective delegations atthe talks, which will continue Friday.

    Talking to reporters after the meeting, Mehmood said the talks were held in a frank and productive manner during which the two sides exchanged data and discussed technical issues. He hoped thattwo sides could make "substantial progress".

    "We are hopeful that whatever is decided at the end of the talks will be a step forward," Duggal told reporters.

    The talks on the Wullar Barrage, the first in the past six years, is part of the composite dialogue process Pakistan and India initiated early this year to resolve all their outstanding issues including the Kashmir dispute.

    Islamabad complained that the Wullar Barrage, which is about 30kilometers north of Srinagar, capital of the India-held Kashmir, violates a water sharing treaty by affecting the flow of water andthreatening irrigation and power projects downstream in Pakistan.

    Under the 1960 Indus Water Treaty, the waters of three eastern rivers in the India-held Kashmir, the Ravi, the Sutlej and the Beas are allocated to India and those of three western rivers, theJhelum, the Chenab and the Indus largely to Pakistan

    India in 1985 started the construction of the Wullar Barrage on which Pakistan lodged a strong protest with the Indian government,saying it was in violation of the Indus Water Treaty. The construction was halted in 1987.

    The two sides are also engaged in talks on the Baglihar Dam on the river of Chenab in the India-held Kashmir. Their officials metin New Delhi in June to discuss the issue. Enditem