Indo-Pak officials talk dam dispute

The water project is among a range of issues the nuclear-armed rivals are discussing, including negotiations on the Himalayan region of Kashmir, as part of a slow-moving peace process.

India's assurance came on the first day of talks in the Pakistani city of Lahore on the 330-megawatt hydro-power project, which Pakistan says violates the 1960 Indus Water treaty.

"It is our responsibility to remove the objections Pakistan has on the Kishanganga project," India's Water Commissioner D.K. Mehta told reporters.

"If we are unable to remove the objections of Pakistan under the Indus Water Treaty, we will have to change the design of Kishanganga," he said.

Pakistan depends to a great extent on rivers that flow from Indian Kashmir for its hydro-power and irrigation needs, and some political analysts say water might in future be a much more contentious issue than Kashmir, over which the neighbours have fought two of their three wars since 1947.