India rejects Intl Court of Arbitration award on Kishenganga, Ratle projects under IWT

India on Friday categorically rejected the ”supplemental award” by what it called the “illegally constituted” Court of Arbitration, purportedly constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

“This latest charade at Pakistan’s behest is yet another desperate attempt by it to escape accountability for its role as the global epicenter of terrorism. Pakistan’s resort to this fabricated arbitration mechanism is consistent with its decades-long pattern of deception and manipulation of international forums,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

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The statement said India has never recognised the existence in law of this so-called Court of Arbitration, and India’s position has all along been that the constitution of this so-called arbitral body is in itself a serious breach of the Indus Waters Treaty and consequently any proceedings before this forum and any award or decision taken by it are also for that reason illegal and per se void.

The MEA said that following the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, 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. 

“Until such time that the Treaty is in abeyance, India is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the Treaty. No Court of Arbitration, much less this illegally constituted arbitral body which has no existence in the eye of law, has the jurisdiction to examine the legality of India’s actions in exercise of its rights as a sovereign,” the statement added.