MEA rejects Indus Waters Court Award, defends treaty suspension

New Delhi, May 16: India on Saturday rejected the latest award issued by the Court of Arbitration (CoA) on the Indus Waters Treaty dispute with Pakistan, maintaining that the tribunal had been constituted “illegally” and New Delhi doesn’t recognise its authority or jurisdiction.

Responding to media queries, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, according to the news agency said India categorically rejects the award issued by the so-called Court of Arbitration on May 15 regarding matters linked to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

He said India has consistently opposed the establishment of the arbitral body and considers all proceedings and decisions issued by it as “null and void”.

“The illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration has issued what it termed an award concerning maximum pondage supplemental to the award on issues of general interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty,” Jaiswal said.

He added that India had never recognised the constitution of the tribunal and reiterated that the country’s decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance would continue.

India had earlier announced that the treaty would remain in abeyance following the April 22, 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 civilians were killed.

Pertinently, the Indus Waters Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 with the mediation of the World Bank, governs the sharing of waters of the Indus river system between the two countries. Under the agreement, the waters of the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — were allocated to India, while Pakistan received rights over the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — with certain usage provisions granted to India.

The current dispute relates to hydroelectric projects being developed by India on western rivers, including the Kishanganga and Ratle projects, which Pakistan has challenged under the treaty’s dispute resolution mechanism.

India has maintained that disputes under the treaty should first be addressed through the mechanism of a Neutral Expert, as provided under the agreement, and has objected to parallel proceedings before the Court of Arbitration constituted under the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague.

New Delhi has argued that initiating arbitration proceedings without following the agreed dispute resolution sequence amounted to a violation of the treaty provisions.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration, headquartered in the Netherlands, facilitates arbitration and dispute resolution between states and international entities. India, however, has refused to participate in the proceedings related to the Indus Waters Treaty dispute.