News Brief
Indus Waters Treaty: India Calls 'Illegal' Tribunal’s Ruling ‘Latest Charade At Pakistan’s Behest’, Firmly Rejects It
Confluence of Indus and Zanskar Rivers in Ladakh, India (File Photo)
India has firmly rejected the authority of an arbitration court “illegally” constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty after the body issued a “supplemental award” on its competence to hear cases on the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu & Kashmir.
India has repeatedly opposed the proceedings of The Hague-based Court of Arbitration ever since its constitution by the World Bank in October 2022.
In a statement on Friday (27 June), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the move as the “latest charade at Pakistan’s behest” and termed this as an attempt by Islamabad to escape accountability for its role as the global epicentre of terrorism.
"Today, the illegal Court of Arbitration, purportedly constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, albeit in brazen violation of it, has issued what it characterizes as a "supplemental award” on its competence concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir," the MEA said.
The MEA said any decision taken by the the body are "illegal" and "void".
"India has never recognised the existence in law of this so-called Court of Arbitration, and India’s position has all along been that the constitution of this so-called arbitral body is in itself a serious breach of the Indus Waters Treaty and consequently any proceedings before this forum and any award or decision taken by it are also for that reason illegal and per se void," it added.
The Court of Arbitration had said Thursday that India’s position of holding the treaty in abeyance “does not deprive the Court of Arbitration of competence”, Indian Express reported.
India is constructing the Kishenganga project on a tributary of the Jhelum and the Ratle project on the Chenab river.
India opposed the dual-track process and argued that it could not be forced to accept parallel proceedings not envisaged by the Treaty.
On 13 October 2022, the World Bank appointed both a neutral expert (Michel Lino) and constituted the arbitral tribunal, a move New Delhi termed as contradictory to the treaty’s framework.
India has since refused to engage with the Court of Arbitration while continuing to participate in the neutral expert process, which it deems consistent with the Treaty.
In its statement on Friday, MEA said, "Following the Pahalgam terrorist attack, India has in exercise of its rights as a sovereign nation under international law, placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. Until such time that the Treaty is in abeyance, India is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the Treaty".
"No Court of Arbitration, much less this illegally constituted arbitral body which has no existence in the eye of law, has the jurisdiction to examine the legality of India’s actions in exercise of its rights as a sovereign," the ministry added.
"India, therefore, categorically rejects this so-called supplemental award as it has rejected all prior pronouncements of this body," the MEA said.
"This latest charade at Pakistan’s behest is yet another desperate attempt by it to escape accountability for its role as the global epicenter of terrorism. Pakistan's resort to this fabricated arbitration mechanism is consistent with its decades-long pattern of deception and manipulation of international forums," the ministry added.
