{"id":8282,"date":"2026-05-17T04:25:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=8282"},"modified":"2026-05-17T04:25:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:25:37","slug":"what-is-the-indus-waters-treaty-why-india-calls-court-of-arbitration-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=8282","title":{"rendered":"What is the Indus Waters Treaty? Why India calls Court of Arbitration \u2018illegal\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p> <div> <p>India has strongly rejected the latest ruling issued by what it called an \u201cillegally constituted\u201d Court of Arbitration (CoA) under the Indus Waters Treaty framework, reiterating that it does not recognise the authority of the tribunal and considers all its pronouncements \u201cnull and void\u201d.\u00a0<\/p> <p>Responding to media queries, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the so-called Court of Arbitration had issued what it termed an \u201caward concerning maximum pondage supplemental to the award on issues of general interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty\u201d.\u00a0<\/p> <p><strong>MUST READ | <em>&#8216;Part of geography or history?&#8217;: Army chief&#8217;s blunt warning for Pakistan over terror support<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <p>\u201cIndia has never recognised the establishment of this so-called CoA. Any proceeding, award, or decision issued by it is null and void,\u201d Jaiswal said, adding that India\u2019s decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance remains unchanged.\u00a0<\/p> <p>The sharp response marks yet another escalation in the long-running water-sharing dispute between India and Pakistan, centred around hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir and differing interpretations of the treaty\u2019s dispute resolution mechanisms.\u00a0<\/p> <p><strong>What is the Indus Waters Treaty?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> <p>The Indus Waters Treaty is one of the world\u2019s most enduring transboundary river agreements. Signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan with the World Bank as a broker, the treaty governs the sharing of waters from the six rivers of the Indus basin.\u00a0<\/p> <p>Under the agreement:\u00a0<\/p> <ul> <li>India received rights over the eastern rivers \u2014 Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.\u00a0<\/li> <li>Pakistan was given control over the western rivers \u2014 Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.\u00a0<\/li> <\/ul> <p>While Pakistan has primary rights over the western rivers, India is allowed limited non-consumptive use, including hydroelectric power generation, irrigation and navigation, under strict technical conditions.\u00a0<\/p> <p><strong>DO READ | <em>India suspends Indus Waters Treaty: Here&#8217;s how it impacts Pakistan\u2019s farms, cities, and power<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <p>For decades, the treaty survived wars, military standoffs and diplomatic breakdowns between the two neighbours, often being described as a rare example of sustained India-Pakistan cooperation.\u00a0<\/p> <p>Under the treaty, technical disputes are generally referred to a neutral expert, while more complex legal disputes may go to a Court of Arbitration. India has objected to the simultaneous invocation of both mechanisms by Pakistan, arguing that parallel proceedings are inconsistent with the treaty framework.\u00a0<\/p> <p>India has consistently maintained that the Court of Arbitration constituted in this matter lacks legitimacy and jurisdiction.\u00a0<\/p> <p><strong>Why did India put the treaty in abeyance?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> <p>India formally moved to place the treaty \u201cin abeyance\u201d after relations with Pakistan deteriorated sharply following repeated cross-border terror incidents and Islamabad\u2019s continued support for terrorism, which lead to Operation Sindoor.\u00a0<\/p> <p>The decision came amid mounting frustration within India over what it described as Pakistan\u2019s obstructionist approach to treaty implementation and misuse of international legal mechanisms.\u00a0<\/p> <p><strong>DON&#8217;T MISS | <em>India suspends Indus Waters Treaty: Here&#8217;s how it impacts Pakistan\u2019s farms, cities, and power<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <p>New Delhi has argued that circumstances have fundamentally changed since the treaty was signed in 1960, especially in the context of terrorism and national security concerns.\u00a0<\/p> <p><strong>When was the treaty put on hold?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> <p>India announced in April 2025 that it was keeping the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance following the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed multiple civilians and security personnel. The government linked the move to Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism and said normal treaty obligations could not continue under prevailing circumstances.\u00a0<\/p> <p><strong>DO CHECKOUT | <em>\u2018Don\u2019t do unto others\u2026\u2019: China threatens Brahmaputra leverage against India in aid to \u2018friend\u2019 Pakistan<\/em><\/strong><\/p> <p>Since then, India has repeatedly stated that the suspension will remain in force until Pakistan \u201ccredibly and irrevocably\u201d ends support for cross-border terrorism.\u00a0<\/p> <p>The latest remarks from the MEA indicate that New Delhi is unlikely to soften its stance despite the latest arbitration ruling.<\/p> <\/div> <p>Indus Waters Treaty, India Pakistan relations, Court of Arbitration, Randhir Jaiswal, Indus river dispute, water sharing agreement, Pakistan news, Jammu and Kashmir, Kishanganga project, Ratle hydropower project#Indus #Waters #Treaty #India #calls #Court #Arbitration #illegal1778963137<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India has strongly rejected the latest ruling issued by what it called an \u201cillegally constituted\u201d Court of Arbitration (CoA) under the Indus Waters Treaty framework, reiterating that it does not recognise the authority of the tribunal and considers all its pronouncements \u201cnull and void\u201d.\u00a0 Responding to media queries, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[24960,4771,930,31244,23736,200,18648,31250,31245,31243,31247,31248,9452,19409,31249,31252,31246,31251],"class_list":["post-8282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-marketing","tag-arbitration","tag-calls","tag-court","tag-court-of-arbitration","tag-illegal","tag-india","tag-india-pakistan-relations","tag-indus","tag-indus-river-dispute","tag-indus-waters-treaty","tag-jammu-and-kashmir","tag-kishanganga-project","tag-pakistan-news","tag-randhir-jaiswal","tag-ratle-hydropower-project","tag-treaty","tag-water-sharing-agreement","tag-waters"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}