“India has never accepted the legality, legitimacy, or competence of the so-called Court of Arbitration. Its pronouncements are therefore without jurisdiction, devoid of legal standing, and have no bearing on India’s rights of utilisation of waters.”
That was External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal, rejecting the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s recent ruling on Indus waters. Jaiswal said India does not recognise the Court of Arbitration’s legitimacy or authority under the 1960 treaty.
Referring to a detailed statement issued by the MEA on June 27, 2025, Jaiswal reiterated that the tribunal’s formation itself violated the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty. The MEA had dismissed the tribunal’s “supplemental award” on the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects as “per se void” and “non-existent in the eye of law.”
“India has in exercise of its rights as a sovereign nation under international law, placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism,” the June statement said.
India clarified that while the treaty remains suspended, it is not obliged to perform any of its obligations, and no arbitral body—especially one it considers illegally constituted—has the jurisdiction to evaluate or interfere with its sovereign actions.
The MEA also accused Pakistan of manipulating international forums to deflect from its role as a state sponsor of terrorism, calling the arbitration proceedings a “fabricated mechanism” aimed at evading accountability.
India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty followed the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, in which 26 civilians were killed. In retaliation, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
MEA Warning
In response to repeated threats from Islamabad over the treaty and recent Indian actions, Jaiswal issued a blunt warning to Pakistan.
“We have seen a continuing pattern of reckless, war-mongering and hateful comments from Pakistani leadership against India,” he said. “Pakistan would be well-advised to temper its rhetoric, as any misadventure will have painful consequences, as was demonstrated recently.”
Pakistan’s Escalating Rhetoric
Amid tensions over the treaty, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking in Islamabad on August 12, warned that India would not be allowed to “snatch even one drop” of Pakistan’s water. “You will be taught such a lesson that you will be left holding your ears,” he said.
Former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari echoed this sentiment, framing India’s suspension of the treaty as an “attack on the Indus Valley Civilisation” and vowing national resistance.
Most concerning, however, were remarks attributed to Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir in Florida last week, where he reportedly said: “We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us.”
He also threatened to destroy any Indian dam built to regulate river flows into Pakistan, saying: “The Indus River is not the Indians’ family property. We will destroy any dam they build.”
With Pakistan openly warning that any attempts to control river waters would be treated as an “act of war,” and India asserting its sovereign right to act against state-sponsored terrorism, water security is emerging as a new axis of confrontation in the region.
