India on Thursday firmly rejected the latest award of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), declaring that the ruling has no legal basis and is beyond jurisdiction.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated that the Indus Waters Treaty stands in abeyance and that India’s rights to utilise the waters remain intact.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a regular press briefing in New Delhi, “India has never accepted the legality, legitimacy, or competence of the so-called Court of Arbitration. Its pronouncements are without jurisdiction, devoid of legal standing, and have no bearing on India’s rights of utilisation of waters. India also rejects Pakistan’s selective and misleading references to the so-called award.”
He added, “As reiterated earlier, the Indus Waters Treaty stands in abeyance by a sovereign decision of the Government of India, taken in response to Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism, including the barbaric Pahalgam attack.”
The MEA stressed that India has never recognised the existence in law of the Court of Arbitration. It said that the very constitution of this arbitral body breaches the treaty. Consequently, any proceedings before it and any awards issued are illegal and void.
Exercising its sovereign rights under international law, India has placed the treaty in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irreversibly ends its support for cross-border terrorism. While in abeyance, India is no longer bound by its obligations under the treaty.
MEA Rejects Supplemental Award on Projects in J&K
The MEA noted that the Court of Arbitration has issued what it calls a ‘supplemental award’ on its competence concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
India categorically rejected this award as it had rejected all earlier pronouncements of the body.
The ministry described the latest move as a ‘charade at Pakistan’s behest’ and accused Islamabad of using fabricated arbitration to avoid accountability for its role as ‘the global epicentre of terrorism’.
It said Pakistan’s actions were consistent with its decades-long practice of deception and manipulation of international forums.
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