NEW DELHI, July 1: Pakistan on Monday called on India to resume the full implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which New Delhi has held in abeyance since May following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The appeal comes in the wake of a supplemental award issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on June 27, which Islamabad says reaffirms the treaty’s validity and operability.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office asserted that the ruling vindicates its long-standing position on the matter, emphasizing that India cannot unilaterally suspend or withdraw from the IWT — a water-sharing agreement brokered by the World Bank in 1960. “We urge India to immediately resume the normal functioning of the Indus Waters Treaty, and fulfil its treaty obligations, wholly and faithfully,” the statement said.
India, however, rejected the court’s decision outright, stating it does not recognize the tribunal’s jurisdiction in this case. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it considers the arbitration proceedings “legally untenable” and reaffirmed its stance that dispute resolution must occur within the treaty’s prescribed bilateral mechanisms. The latest ruling concerns Pakistan’s objections to design elements of India’s Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
India had suspended engagement under the treaty after the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, which it attributed to Pakistan-based militant groups. As part of its punitive response, India put the IWT — once considered a rare example of successful India-Pakistan cooperation — in “abeyance.”
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar welcomed the court’s decision, stating that it reaffirms Pakistan’s legal position. “India cannot unilaterally hold it in ‘abeyance’. States are measured by their adherence to international agreements. The IWT must be upheld in both letter and spirit,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
