Pakistan has welcomed the latest decision by the Court of Arbitration on water sharing after India unilaterally suspended the World Bank-brokered Indus Waters Treaty that allows fair distribution of Himalayan waters between the two South Asian countries.
Islamabad says The Hague-based Court’s decision, binding on both nations, aligns with its interpretation of the IWT’s provisions.
The award addresses longstanding disputes regarding the use of the Indus basin’s western rivers and the construction of new run-of-river hydropower projects by India.
In the past, New Delhi has rejected the court’s interpretations.
The Treaty and Recent Tensions
The IWT, reached with the help of World Bank mediation in 1960, allocates the western rivers—Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab—to Pakistan for irrigation, drinking water, and non-consumptive uses such as hydropower.
India retains control over the eastern rivers—Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej—while still adhering to agreements that prevent significant alteration of their flow.
Although India is permitted limited uses of the western rivers for purposes like power generation and irrigation, the treaty explicitly prohibits major storage or diversion of these waters.
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After April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, New Delhi announced its intention to put the treaty in abeyance as it blamed Pakistan-based militants for the terrorist incident in Pahalgam area.
Islamabad firmly denied the Indian claim and expressed its readiness for a neutral probe.
As tensions escalated over the incident, the two nuclear-armed neighbors went into a deadly 87-hour conflict, which ended when President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on May 10 after diplomatic intervention.
Pakistan has maintained that the treaty includes no provisions for unilateral withdrawal and has warned that any attempt to block river flows would be considered an “act of war.”
The Court of Arbitration’s Findings
Pakistan’s foreign office highlighted the significance of the Court’s August 11 award, particularly as it clarifies the criteria for run-of-river hydroelectric projects planned by India on the western rivers.
The Court determined that India must “let flow” the waters of these rivers for Pakistan’s unrestricted use, restricting any exceptions for hydroelectric generation to those explicitly outlined in the treaty.
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The ruling also affirmed that these exceptions must adhere to the treaty’s requirements rather than India’s preferred practices.
Besides, the Court’s findings upheld Pakistan’s interpretation on technical matters such as low-level outlets, gated spillways, turbine intakes, and free-board, and set limitations on India’s ability to maximize pondage volume associated with hydropower infrastructure.
Legal Status and Long-Term Impact
The Court of Arbitration’s awards are deemed “final and binding” on both India and Pakistan, carrying legal authority over future disputes and the decisions of neutral experts.
The Court also acknowledged Pakistan’s vulnerability as the downstream riparian state, reiterating that the central aim of the IWT is to define the rights and obligations of both countries in relation to the western rivers, and to support mutual cooperation and effective dispute resolution.
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“In a significant finding, the Court has declared that India shall ‘let flow’ the waters of the western rivers for Pakistan’s unrestricted use. In that connection, the specified exceptions for generation of hydro-electric plants must conform strictly to the requirements laid down in the Treaty, rather than to what India might consider an ‘ideal’ or ‘best practices’ approach,” the foreign ministry in Islamabad said in a statement.
“The Court’s findings on low-level outlets, gated spillways, intakes for the turbines, and free-board are in line with Pakistan’s interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Treaty. The Award also limits India from maximizing the pondage volume.”
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Muhammad Luqman is Associate Editor at Views News Now. He writes on wide-ranging issues including economy, South Asia, the Middle East, agriculture, economy and innovation. Luqman has worked some of the leading news organizations and won acclaim for his original and research-based works.
