Pakistan urges India to resume normal functioning of Indus Waters Treaty

Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday urged India to resume the normal functioning of the Indus Waters Treaty, which New Delhi has held in abeyance since May, saying the recent decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague showed that the agreement was still "valid and operational".

India has never recognised the proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration after Pakistan raised objections to certain design elements of the two projects under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty.

India on Friday strongly rejected the ruling, saying it has never recognised the so-called framework for dispute resolution with Pakistan.

India rejects this so-called "supplemental award", the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, referring to the ruling in the case related to Pakistan's objections to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects.

A day after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, India took a series of punitive measures against Pakistan that included putting the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in "abeyance".

In a statement, Pakistan's Foreign Office on Monday said the supplemental award announced by the Court of Arbitration on June 27 "vindicates Pakistan's position that the Indus Waters Treaty remains valid and operational, and that India has no right to take a unilateral action about it.”

“We urge India to immediately resume the normal functioning of the Indus Waters Treaty, and fulfil its treaty obligations, wholly and faithfully,” it added.

Separately, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the court’s ruling confirmed that the IWT remained fully valid.

"Pakistan welcomes the Court of Arbitration’s Supplemental Award reaffirming its jurisdiction in the Kishenganga-Ratle case. The ruling confirms that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) remains fully valid. India cannot unilaterally hold it in ‘abeyance’. States are measured by their adherence to international agreements. The IWT must be upheld in both letter & spirit," he said in a post on X on Monday.