{"id":2933,"date":"2026-08-31T17:03:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/?p=2933"},"modified":"2026-08-31T17:03:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:03:50","slug":"hague-court-orders-india-to-uphold-indus-waters-treaty-halt-ratle-project-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/08\/31\/hague-court-orders-india-to-uphold-indus-waters-treaty-halt-ratle-project-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Hague court orders India to uphold Indus Waters Treaty, halt Ratle project work"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD<\/strong>: The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on Monday ordered India to uphold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan and suspend work on a hydro project in occupied Kashmir.<\/p>\n

Water and the IWT remain a contentious issue between India and Pakistan, following New Delhi\u2019s\u00a0unilateral abeyance\u00a0of the accord in April last year \u2014 a move that was followed by a brief military conflict between the two sides in May 2025.<\/p>\n

Following India\u2019s move, Pakistan\u00a0termed<\/u>\u00a0any attempt to suspend its water share an \u201cact of war\u201d, noting the\u00a0IWT<\/u>\u00a0had no provision for unilateral suspension. It later\u00a0argued<\/u>\u00a0that Delhi\u2019s action was a violation of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.<\/p>\n

In its order, the PCA backed Pakistan\u2019s stance, declaring that the IWT between the two countries remained fully in force, as India had no justification for ending or suspending the agreement.<\/p>\n

The Hague-based court\u00a0issued an award on the status of the IWT \u201cin respect of India\u2019s decision on abeyance\u201d and an order on Pakistan\u2019s application dated March 4 regarding \u201cinterim measures\u201d concerning the Ratle hydro-electric plant.<\/p>\n

In a press release detailing its ruling, the PCA said it \u201cexamined the potential grounds upon which India could suspend or terminate the treaty, including the grounds cited by India in its public statements\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a unanimous decision, the court found that none of these grounds could justify suspension or termination of the treaty.\u201d<\/p>\n

It declared that the IWT \u201cremains 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\u201d.<\/p>\n

The IWT allocates the eastern rivers \u2014 Ravi, Beas and Sutlej \u2014 to India, while the western rivers \u2014 Indus, Jhelum and Chenab \u2014 are largely allocated to Pakistan. The 1960 water-sharing agreement has also established mechanisms for data-sharing and dispute resolution.<\/p>\n

During the proceedings, Pakistan requested the court to address the \u201cdesign of certain components of the run-of-river hydro-electric projects that India is permitted by the IWT to construct on the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab rivers and their tributaries (\u201cwestern rivers\u201d), before those rivers flow into Pakistan\u201d, the PCA statement said.<\/p>\n

The proceedings in the interim measures\u2019 application concerned India\u2019s\u00a0Kishenganga Hydro-Electric Plant (KHEP) and the Ratle Hydro-Electric Plant (RHEP).<\/p>\n

The court noted that the Kishenganga and Ratle plants were \u201calso the subject of proceedings\u201d before a World Bank-appointed neutral expert, who is expected to issue a final decision in July 2027 on whether they were in line with the IWT.<\/p>\n

In its order, the PCA unanimously decided to \u201cimpose measures prohibiting India from concreting the RHEP dam wall and power intake structure above certain levels until 90 days after the neutral expert\u2019s final decision\u201d.<\/p>\n

The court also imposed a reporting measure related to the RHEP Construction Schedule until shortly after the neutral expert\u2019s final decision. It declined to grant two other measures requested by Pakistan.<\/p>\n

The PCA noted that the IWT \u201cdoes not provide for one party to terminate or suspend the operation of the treaty, or for \u2018abeyance\u2019\u201d. The IWT provides that it will remain in force unless modified or terminated by India and Pakistan acting together through adoption of a further treaty.<\/p>\n

The Court of Arbitration was chaired by Professor Sean D. Murphy of the United States. The other members were Professor Wouter Buytaert of Belgium, Professor Jeffrey P. Minear of the United States, Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh of Jordan, and Dr Donald Blackmore of Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on Monday ordered India to uphold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan and suspend work on a hydro project in occupied Kashmir. Water and the IWT remain a contentious issue between India and Pakistan, following New Delhi\u2019s\u00a0unilateral abeyance\u00a0of the accord in April last year \u2014 a move […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national"],"yoast_head":"\nHague court orders India to uphold Indus Waters Treaty, halt Ratle project work - Diplomag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diplomag.com.pk\/index.php\/2026\/08\/31\/hague-court-orders-india-to-uphold-indus-waters-treaty-halt-ratle-project-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hague court orders India to uphold Indus Waters Treaty, halt Ratle project work - Diplomag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ISLAMABAD: The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on Monday ordered India to uphold the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan and suspend work on a hydro project in occupied Kashmir. 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