India rejects 'supplemental award' by 'illegal' Court of Arbitration on Indus Waters Treaty, calls it unlawful

Calling the self-appointed panel unlawful and in "brazen violation" of the treaty itself, India's Ministry of External Affairs trashed its claims and "concerns".

In a five-point statement, the MEA 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."

The statement said India has never recognised the existence in law of this so-called Court of Arbitration, and its 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," the MEA statement 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 statement said.

"India, therefore, categorically rejects this so-called supplemental award as it has rejected all prior pronouncements of this body," it said.

India has made it clear time and again that the Indus Waters Treaty shall continue to remain suspended till Pakistan does not eradicate every shred of terror infrastructure and financing, as well as eliminates 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".

"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 MEA said on Friday.

As per the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, India had, as a goodwill gesture, agreed to share the waters from the Indus River and its five tributaries - Baes, Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab, and Jhelum - on a mutually agreeable basis.

According to the pact, the waters of the three 'western rivers' - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab are to be released for Pakistan as per agreeable terms, while the entire volume of water from the three 'eastern rivers' - Baes, Sutlej, and Ravi - are for India.