Legal Setback for India: Indus Treaty Remains Binding, Says PCA

News Desk

Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday welcomed the Supplemental Award issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in its long-running dispute with India over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), asserting that India cannot unilaterally suspend or hold the agreement in abeyance.

In an official statement, the government reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to resolving the water dispute within the framework of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, calling for renewed diplomatic engagement with New Delhi.

“The Court has affirmed its competence in light of recent developments, and that unilateral action by India cannot deprive either the Court or the Neutral Expert of their jurisdiction to adjudicate the issues before them,” the statement noted.

The ruling, delivered unanimously on June 27, 2025, confirms that India’s April 2025 declaration to place the treaty “in abeyance” holds no legal weight and does not affect the ongoing arbitration. The award is binding and cannot be appealed.

Islamabad emphasized that the priority moving forward is to restore meaningful dialogue between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, especially on contentious issues such as water, Jammu & Kashmir, trade, and terrorism.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in remarks made earlier on June 24, also extended an olive branch to India. “Pakistan is ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue with India on all outstanding issues, including Jammu & Kashmir, water, trade, and terrorism,” he said.

Tensions between the two countries flared earlier this year following a militant attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in April that left 26 people dead. India blamed Pakistan for orchestrating the assault—an accusation Islamabad firmly denies. The diplomatic standoff escalated into the most intense military confrontation between the two neighbours in decades before a U.S.-brokered ceasefire was reached last month.

India’s attempt to suspend the treaty was widely seen as a violation of the agreement’s provisions. The Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank and signed in 1960, provides a clear and binding framework for water-sharing between the two countries and outlines formal mechanisms for dispute resolution. Notably, the treaty contains no provision allowing either party to unilaterally terminate or suspend the agreement.

Arbitration proceedings were formally initiated at the PCA in The Hague following Pakistan’s request for the establishment of a court on August 19, 2016, under Article IX of the Indus Waters Treaty.

The recent Supplemental Award by the court reaffirms the integrity of the treaty’s dispute resolution mechanisms and reasserts the international legal order’s role in mediating transboundary water conflicts.