NEW DELHI: India on Friday firmly rejected a recent “supplemental award” issued by what it termed an “illegal” Court of Arbitration allegedly constituted under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), declaring the panel's formation a violation of the treaty and its rulings “void and without legal standing”.
In a strongly worded five-point statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the so-called Court of Arbitration reportedly acting on Pakistan’s complaints concerning India’s Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir lacked both jurisdiction and legitimacy.
“Today, the illegal Court of Arbitration, purportedly constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, albeit in brazen violation of it, has issued what it characterises as a ‘supplemental award’ on its competence concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” the MEA said.
India asserted it has never recognised the tribunal and considers any of its actions “null and void”. “India has never recognised the existence in law of this so-called Court of Arbitration... any proceedings before this forum and any award or decision taken by it are also for that reason illegal and per se void,” the statement read.
The MEA further noted that following the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir attributed to Pakistan-based operatives India has exercised its sovereign right under international law to place the Indus Waters Treaty “in abeyance”.
“India is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the Treaty,” it said, adding that the suspension will remain in effect until “Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.
The ministry also underlined that “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 nation.”
India accused Pakistan of manipulating the treaty process to deflect from its support of terrorism, calling the arbitration a “desperate attempt” to avoid accountability.
“This latest charade at Pakistan’s behest is yet another desperate attempt by it to escape accountability for its role as the global epicentre 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.
Suspending the Indus Waters Treaty was among the first diplomatic measures taken by India following the Pahalgam terror attack. The move reflects a strategic shift in New Delhi’s approach to Islamabad—tying the future of bilateral agreements to Pakistan’s stance on cross-border terrorism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier encapsulated India’s position with the remark: “Blood and water cannot flow together” underscoring the incompatibility of continued dialogue or cooperation with the persistence of terror.
