NEW DELHI: In defiance of international rules, India’s foreign ministry on Thursday maintained that the international Court of Arbitration lacks any legal authority to make pronouncements on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan as New Delhi has “never recognised the legitimacy of the court”.
A ruling from the Court of Arbitration last week backed Pakistan by saying that India must adhere to the Indus Waters Treaty in the design of new hydro-electric power stations on rivers that flow west into Pakistan.
Under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, three rivers that flow westwards were awarded to Pakistan, with India getting three eastern flowing rivers. Pakistan fears its neighbour India could choke its main water supply, with 80 per cent of the country’s agriculture and hydro-power dependent on those three river flows.
In 2023, Pakistan brought a case to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration over the design of Indian hydro-power projects on rivers that were awarded to Pakistan under the treaty.
The court, in a ruling on Friday that was posted on its website on Monday, said it had jurisdiction over the dispute and ruled the treaty “does not permit India to generate hydro-electric power on the Western Rivers based on what might be the ideal or best practices approach for engineering” of these projects. Instead, the design of these projects must adhere “strictly” to the specifications laid down in the treaty, the court said.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said late Monday that the court ruling said that India had to “let flow” the waters of the three rivers for Pakistan’s unrestricted use.
The court said its findings are final and binding on both countries, according to the foreign office statement. An Indian official pointed to a June statement by India’s foreign ministry, which said that India has never recognised the existence in law of the Court of Arbitration.
Talking to a private news channel, Federal Minister for Water Resources Muhammad Moeen Wattoo in response to a question rejected India’s claim that the International Court of Arbitration lacks any legal authority to make pronouncements on the IWT, calling it “baseless and wrong”, and said New Delhi seeks to “run away” from the treaty.
The minister said the “court has already said that it has the power to decide. India had made this claim before, which the court has rejected”. Watto said under any article of the agreement, India or Pakistan cannot terminate this agreement. He said a letter by India earlier in the year seeking modification in the treaty had no legal cover and the country could not unilaterally take a decision regarding the IWT.