Unless an agreement is reached, however, further developments could trigger tensions between the two countries. Although the Permanent Indus Commission is given the duty to implement and monitor activities of the Indus Waters Treaty, it is weak in research capacities needed for evidence-based responses to water resources issues (Babel and Wahid 2009). In this situation, international lending institutions such as the World Bank continue to play a key role in promoting cooperation along with policy agenda toward more private sector participation and management of water. The 2004 construction of the Baglihar Hydropower Project on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir was just such a case, with the World Bank appointing a neutral expert to arbitrate the issues arising with Pakistan, which continues to launch protests over water diversion by India (Dinar et al. Although Tajikistan is in an upstream position on the Amu Darya and Kyrgyzstan controls the flow of the Syr Darya, half of the Aral Sea Basin’s population lives in Uzbekistan.