New Delhi: Faced with India’s uncompromising posture on the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), Pakistan has once again proposed holding a “constructive and positive dialogue” to address ongoing disputes over water sharing. The appeal relies heavily on a recent ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, which Islamabad insists validates its position on the 1960 pact.
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi stated that the international tribunal has reaffirmed the treaty’s binding nature.
“The Permanent Court of Arbitration has reiterated in its ruling that the Indus Water Treaty remains fully applicable and legally binding,” Andrabi said, according to news agency PTI. He further asserted that Pakistan is prepared to take all necessary legal and diplomatic steps to ensure the enforcement of the ruling and the preservation of the treaty.
Pakistan’s renewed push for talks comes at a time when New Delhi has explicitly rejected the PCA’s jurisdiction over the matter. India maintains that it does not recognize the international tribunal’s authority in this specific dispute and considers its ruling non-binding.
The bilateral friction over the Indus Water Treaty escalated significantly last year. Following a devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April that claimed the lives of 26 civilians, India initiated a series of diplomatic and economic countermeasures against Pakistan, which included steps to suspend the water-sharing treaty.
In response to India’s actions, Pakistan approached the PCA in March of this year, arguing that the treaty cannot be suspended unilaterally by any single party. Andrabi claimed that the recent court decision reinforces this argument, declaring the treaty fully effective for both nations.
However, India has stood its ground. New Delhi has made it abundantly clear that its decisions concerning national security and cross-border terrorism cannot be dictated or overridden by any external forum. With India prioritizing its security concerns and Pakistan relying on international arbitration, the diplomatic and legal stalemate over the crucial 64-year-old water-sharing agreement shows no immediate signs of resolution.