Court Orders India to Honor Indus Waters Treaty — SkimNews
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- Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled on Aug 31 that India must uphold the Indus Waters Treaty and limit work on a hydroelectric plant in Kashmir, finding India had no justification for suspending the agreement.
- India suspended the 1960 treaty in April last year after a Kashmir attack killed 26 people, a move seen as the first tangible step to operate outside the treaty's framework.
- The court ordered India to observe all obligations regarding the design and operation of hydroelectric projects on the Western Rivers, which supply water to roughly 80% of Pakistani farms.
- Pakistan denied any role in the Kashmir attack that triggered India's suspension and initiated the legal action that produced Monday's ruling.
- India's Ministry of Foreign Affairs "categorically" rejected the verdict, calling the body a "so-called Court of Arbitration" with "no jurisdiction whatsoever" and stating its rulings "will have no effect on India's actions."
- A World Bank-appointed neutral expert will determine by July 2027 whether India's hydroelectric plant construction complies with the treaty.
- The Ratle Hydro-Electric Plant cannot have its dam wall and power intake structure built above specified levels until 90 days after the neutral expert's decision.
Why it matters: The Indus Waters Treaty supplies 80% of Pakistan's farm water, making the court's insistence that India cannot suspend it materially significant for Pakistani agriculture. India — officially a member of the court — has rejected its jurisdiction outright, creating a direct standoff between international arbitration and New Delhi's sovereignty claims. The Ratle construction freeze gives the ruling concrete teeth until a July 2027 expert decision.
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