NEW DELHI, Aug 14: India today rejected the ruling of the “so-called Court of Arbitration” on the Indus Waters Treaty, saying it has never accepted its legality or legitimacy and therefore its pronouncements have no bearing on India’s right of utilisation of the Indus waters.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, referring to the August 8 ruling of the Court of Arbitration that asked India to comply with provisions of the IWT, said:
“India has never accepted the legality, the legitimacy or the competency of the so-called Court of Arbitration.
“Its pronouncements are therefore without jurisdiction, devoid of legal standing, and have no bearing on India’s rights of utilisation of the waters.
“India also categorically rejects Pakistan’s selective and misleading references to the so-called award.
“As reiterated in our press release on June 27, the Indus Waters Treaty stands in abeyance by a sovereign decision of the Govt of India, taking in response to Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of cross border terrorism, including the barbaric Pahalgam attack.”
His comments come a day after Pakistan asked India to “resume” the Indus Waters Treaty, following the Court of Arbitration’s order.
On June 27, India in a statement rejected the existence of the Hague-based Court of Arbitration, terming it illegal.
India has said: “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”.
In the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, in which Pakistani-linked terrorists gunned down 26 people, mostly tourists, India had placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance “until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.
In recent days, Pakistan’s army chief Asif Munir and PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto have ratcheted up their rhetoric over the Indus Waters Treaty, and threatened attacks on India if the waters are not allowed to flow.
The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) divides the waters of the six major rivers shared between the two nations: Indus, Jhelum, Chenab (Western Rivers) and Ravi, Beas, Sutlej (Eastern Rivers), with India to receive the waters of the eastern rivers and Pakistan the western rivers.
Following the Pahalgam attack, India has said that water and blood cannot flow together, while suspending the IWT. (UNI)
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