India fast-tracks Kashmir hydro projects that could affect Pakistan water supplies

The schemes could prove a flashpoint between the nuclear-armed neighbours at a time when relations are tense

India has fast-tracked hydropower projects worth $15bn in Kashmir in recent months, three federal and state officials said, ignoring warnings from Islamabad that power stations on rivers flowing into Pakistan will disrupt water supplies.

The swift approval of projects that had languished for years came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested last year that sharing the waterways could be conditional on Pakistan clamping down on anti-India militants that New Delhi says it shelters.