India rejects Hague court’s Indus Waters Treaty ruling

• India rejected the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) order setting aside its decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance remains in force.

• India decided to put the IWT in abeyance as part of a series of diplomatic and economic measures unveiled soon after the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025.

• Pakistan approached the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in March 2026 to determine the status of the treaty virtually challenging India’s action.

What the PCA order said?

• The Permanent Court of Arbitration said the court considered the meaning of India’s decision to suspend the treaty, finding that it could only be a claim that the Indus Waters Treaty is either suspended or terminated. 

• The court examined the potential grounds on which India can suspend or terminate the Treaty, including grounds cited by New Delhi in its public statements. 

• In a unanimous decision, the Court found that none of these grounds could justify suspension or termination of the Treaty. 

• Accordingly, the Indus Waters Treaty remains fully in force, and India must observe its obligations under the Treaty, including those relating to the design and operation of its hydro-electric projects on the Western Rivers.

• In the order on interim measures, the Court unanimously decided to grant three of the measures requested by Pakistan, subject to modifications made by the Court, and declined to grant two of the measures requested.

Why India rejects the PCA order?

• This Court was constituted by the World Bank in patent breach of the terms of the Treaty and India categorically rejected its so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements by this illegally constituted body, the MEA said.

• India has never recognised the existence in law of this Court of Arbitration.

• India has never appeared before this body and has refused to take any cognisance of its earlier pronouncements.

• The MEA said the Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction whatsoever to pronounce on India’s sovereign decisions. 

What is Indus Waters Treaty?

• India and Pakistan share the waters of six rivers — Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. 

• The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small share for China and Afghanistan.

• The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory. 

• Under the Treaty, the water from the three eastern rivers — Ravi, Sutlej and Beas — averaging around 33 million acre feet (MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use.

• The water from western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty.

• The Treaty also sets forth distinct procedures to handle issues which may arise: “questions” are handled by the Commission, “differences” are to be resolved by a Neutral Expert, and “disputes” are to be referred to a seven-member arbitral tribunal called the “Court of Arbitration.” 

• As a signatory to the Treaty, the World Bank’s role is limited and procedural.

• The Treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), which has a commissioner from each country.

• The two commissioners are required to meet at least once every year, alternately in India and Pakistan.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration

• The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organisation established by the 1899 Hague Convention on the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes.

• It provides a variety of dispute resolution services to the international community.

• The PCA has 129 Contracting Parties.

• Headquartered at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Netherlands, the PCA facilitates arbitration, conciliation, fact-finding, and other dispute resolution proceedings among various combinations of States, State entities, intergovernmental organisations, and private parties.

• Beyond its headquarters in the Peace Palace in The Hague, the PCA has opened offices in various cities in order to make its services more accessible in different regions of the world.

These are situated in:

i) Buenos Aires (Argentina)

ii) Ha Noi (Vietnam)

iii) Mauritius

iv) Singapore

v) Vienna (Austria).

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)