Indus Waters Treaty: Calling the self-appointed panel unlawful and in “brazen violation” of the treaty itself, India’s foreign ministry unequivocally trashed its claims and “concerns”.
India has, in a strongly-worded statement, rejected a “supplemental award” by an “illegal” Court of Arbitration set up supposedly over the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. Calling the self-appointed panel unlawful and in “brazen violation” of the treaty itself, India’s foreign ministry unequivocally trashed its claims and “concerns”.
In a five-point statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said, “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.”
Making it clear that New Delhi never considered this self-appointed, so-called ‘arbiter’ to have any locus standi in any of India’s matters, the foreign ministry stated that “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.”
“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.
Blaming Pakistan sqarely for the Indus Waters Treaty being put in “abeyance” after terrorist attacks in India, the foreign ministry reiterated that “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.”
Calling out the “so-called Court of Arbitration” for acting at the behest of Pakistan and highlighting that the self-appointed panel has “no existence in the eyes of the law”, India said, “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,” adding that “India, therefore, categorically rejects this so-called supplemental award as it has rejected all prior pronouncements of this body.”
Labeling Pakistan as the global epicenter for terrorism, India underscored that “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.”
India has made it amply clear that the Indus Waters Treaty shall continue to remain in abeyance till Pakistan does not eradicate every shred of terror infrastructure and financing, as well as eliminate every single terrorist on its soil. New Delhi has also sent a clear message to Pakistan and the global community that any terror activity or terrorist attack in India with links found directly or indirectly to Pakistan will be considered an escalation which merits a military response by India “anywhere in Pakistan”.
The Indus Waters Treaty being kept in abeyance was one of the first diplomatically-punitive measures taken by India against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack was traced to have Pakistani-links. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that “blood and water cannot flow together.” India has also repeatedly told Pakistan that “terror and talks cannot happen at the same time” either, leaving Islamabad and Rawalpindi (Pak Army headquarters) with no option but to put an end to its policy of “cross-border terror” in order to get its share of water as per the agreement.
