Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: India has rejected a ruling by the so-called Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), an intergovernmental organization based in The Hague, ordering it to uphold the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan, and said the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the matter, the media reported on Tuesday.
The PCA is not a United Nations agency, but has been a UN observer since 1993.
India suspended the controversial treaty in April 2026 after identifying two of three terrorists as Pakistanis in an attack that killed 26 Hindu tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. As is its wont, Pakistan denied any involvement in the attack.
The standoff places the decades-long conflict over J&K as the primary trigger behind the collapse of the Pakistan-friendly water pact, pushing a framework that had endured three wars past its breaking point. Under the 1960 agreement, these shared river systems feed 80 percent of Pakistan’s agricultural land.
India’s rejection followed the alleged court’s ruling on Monday that the pact remains fully binding and that India had no justification for ending or suspending it. The tribunal ordered India to limit construction on the Ratle Hydro-Electric Plant in Kashmir, prohibiting work on the dam wall and power intake structure above certain levels. These restrictions will remain in place until 90 days after a World Bank-appointed neutral expert delivers a decision, expected by July 2027.
The Ministry of External Affairs, however, said India does not recognise the court and “categorically” rejected the verdict.
“This so-called Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction whatsoever to pronounce on India’s sovereign decisions,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Its pronouncements, now or in the future, will have no effect on India’s actions in connection with the projects being undertaken by India.”
Looking for straws to clutch on, Pakistan welcomed the tribunal’s interim measures and said that its government is carefully considering the details of the decision to determine how it can best assist in finding a pathway back to engagement under the treaty’s binding legal obligations.
Islamabad mounted the legal action after India began work last year to boost reservoir holding capacity at two hydroelectric projects in the Kashmir region. Pakistan viewed the expansion as a first tangible step by India to operate outside agreements covered by the treaty.
The PCA said New Delhi must “observe its obligations” under the treaty with on the sharing of the waters of Indus and other rivers, which New Delhi suspended last year.
In a statement, the court unanimously found that “none of the grounds” put forward by India were justified and “concluded that the Treaty remains fully in force.”
The court noted that India “remains bound by the obligations incumbent upon it,” particularly regarding the design and operation of “hydroelectric projects on the western rivers.”
It said India’s construction of hydroelectric projects on the Indus and associated rivers had to conform to the treaty.
A Pakistani government spokesman said Islamabad “welcomed” the PCA order. However, India said that it categorically rejects the order of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
The Treaty
The 1960 Indus Water Treaty governs the use of water from six rivers which originate in India but flow into Pakistan as part of the Indus basin — a resource relied on by hundreds of millions of people.
The Indus River cuts through ultra-sensitive demarcation lines between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
India said in May 2025 that it was suspending its membership of the treaty after the Pahalgam terror attack in J&K.
Union Water Minister CR Patil said earlier this year that the government would ensure that “not a single drop of water” will flow into Pakistan.
Pakistan accused India of seeking to “weaponize” the precious water resource.
Islamabad has previously said it would consider any attempt to change the flow of cross-border waterways as an “act of war.”