Our Bureau
New Delhi
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated this week as India staunchly rejected the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) regarding disputes over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), amid aggressive rhetoric from Pakistan and renewed calls for the treaty’s revival.
Pakistan welcomed a recent PCA ruling concerning design criteria for Indian hydropower projects on Western Rivers, interpreting the treaty to require India to “let flow” these waters for Pakistan’s unrestricted use, barring exceptions strictly defined for hydroelectric generation. Pakistan’s foreign office emphasized that “exceptions for generation of hydro-electric plants must conform strictly to the requirements laid down in the treaty, rather than to what India might consider an ‘ideal’ or ‘best practices’ approach.”
India, however, reiterated that it has never accepted the PCA’s jurisdiction over the matter, instead insisting that disputes should be resolved through the neutral expert mechanism as outlined in the treaty itself. Officials cited “practical and legal challenges” with the World Bank’s 2022 (at Pakistan’s insistence) simultaneous activation of both a neutral expert and the Court of Arbitration on identical issues. India has previously notified its intention to seek modifications to the treaty, following prolonged disputes over projects like Kishanganga and Ratle in Jammu and Kashmir.
The recent PCA decision comes amid heightened tensions, including nuclear threats from Pakistan’s army chief Gen Asim Munir and forceful warnings from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over potential disruptions of water flows.
Signed in 1960 after World Bank mediation, the Indus Waters Treaty has withstood decades of conflict, granting Pakistan control over the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers, and India rights to Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Yet, with implementation stalled, India maintains that treaty normalcy will depend on credible action from Pakistan against cross-border terrorism.
