International court backs Pakistan's position on Indus Waters Treaty
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has issued an interim ruling backing Pakistan's position in the India-Pakistan dispute over the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. The decision marks a new phase in the water-sharing controversy.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has issued an interim ruling on the Indus Waters Treaty, which India announced last year it was unilaterally suspending. According to the ruling, India's unilateral suspension is incompatible with the 1960 treaty; the issue must be addressed through the dispute-resolution mechanism the treaty itself sets out.
The court also reminded India to avoid unilateral infrastructure decisions that would compromise binding flow guarantees to Pakistan. India's foreign ministry rejected the ruling, saying it exceeded the court's mandate and infringed on its sovereign rights.
Pakistan, a country of more than 240 million, depends on Indus basin waters for roughly two-thirds of its arable land. The ruling brings the water-sharing dispute back onto an international legal footing at a moment when India-Pakistan relations have been under strain.
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