‘No legal standing’: India rejects Hague Court order to restore Indus waters pact with Pakistan

WASHINGTON: India on Monday (local time) delivered a robust dismissal of a ruling issued by a World Bank-constituted Court of Arbitration in The Hague concerning the Indus Waters Treaty.

New Delhi declared that the tribunal was “illegally constituted” and asserted that its pronouncements, including interim measures attempting to restore the treaty, have zero legal standing.

The Embassy of India in Washington DC, in a post on X, reiterated New Delhi’s long-standing position and said, “India’s position is clear and consistent. The so-called Court of Arbitration was illegally constituted in breach of the Indus Waters Treaty. Its “award” on interim measures and the status of the Treaty has no legal standing.”

The Embassy underscored that sovereign decisions on the Indus Water Treaty rest firmly with India and reiterated that the Treaty remains in abeyance. “India never recognised this body, never appeared before it, and will not be bound by its pronouncements. Sovereign decisions on the Indus Waters Treaty remain firmly in India’s hands. The Treaty stays in abeyance.”

India’s position is clear and consistent.
The so-called Court of Arbitration was illegally constituted in breach of the Indus Waters Treaty. Its “award” on interim measures and the status of the Treaty has no legal standing. India never recognised this body, never appeared before…

— India in USA (@IndianEmbassyUS) August 31, 2026

The strong diplomatic pushback follows the arbitration panel’s assertion that India’s rationale for freezing the water agreement did not justify its suspension, demanding that New Delhi observe its treaty obligations. India had decisively placed the historic 1960 water-sharing pact in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attack in April of the previous year, which highlighted persistent cross-border terrorism linked to Islamabad.

Issuing a sharp diplomatic rebuke, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) denounced the tribunal’s legitimacy and reaffirmed India’s absolute sovereignty over its national security and infrastructure decisions in the face of persistent provocations from Islamabad.

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

Underscoring New Delhi’s consistent and uncompromising legal posture, the MEA highlighted that India has entirely shunned the flawed proceedings from the outset.

“India has never recognised the existence in law of this illegally constituted and so-called Court of Arbitration, and has consistently maintained that the very establishment of this alleged arbitral body constitutes a grave violation of the Indus Waters Treaty. Accordingly, India has never appeared before this body and has refused to take any cognisance of its earlier pronouncements,” the MEA stated.

Reinforcing India’s supreme authority, the ministry asserted that the arbitration panel possesses no “jurisdiction whatsoever to pronounce on India’s sovereign decisions.” “Its pronouncements, now or in the future, will have no effect on India’s actions in connection with the projects being undertaken by India,” the MEA asserted.

The forceful diplomatic pushback came in response to remarks from the arbitration panel, which claimed that New Delhi’s rationale for freezing the water agreement did not “justify suspension or termination.” The court went as far as demanding that the Indus Waters Treaty remain fully in force and that India must observe its obligations.

New Delhi had decisively placed the historic water-sharing arrangement in abeyance in the wake of the brutal Pahalgam terror attack in April of the previous year, an atrocity that exposed Islamabad’s continued sponsorship of cross-border violence. Rather than taking accountability for its rogue state policies, the Pakistani leadership reacted with hostile rhetoric, repeatedly designating water as their “red line” while issuing aggressive, belligerent threats against India and hysterically describing the suspension as an “act of war.”

Despite Islamabad’s belligerent posturing and attempts to pressure New Delhi through international legal forums, India has maintained an unyielding stance, placing national security above all else. (ANI)