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India has rejected the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over the Indus Water Treaty. India on Thursday made it clear that it cannot be forced to participate in the illegal proceedings being conducted at the Permanent Court of Arbitration over the Kishanganga and Ratle hydropower projects following the verdict of the Hague-based tribunal.
India bluntly on Indus Water Treaty
Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi gave a blunt reply to Pakistan by holding a press conference on Thursday. Arindam Bagchi said that India cannot be forced to recognize or participate in illegal and parallel proceedings bypassing the treaty.
India’s constant attitude has been like this
Significantly, this is not the first time that India has taken such a stand on this issue. India has always maintained that it will not participate in the proceedings initiated by Pakistan at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. India’s argument behind this is that under the framework of the Indus Waters Treaty, the dispute is already being investigated by a neutral expert, so there is no need to hear the issue in any arbitration court. Let us inform that the last meeting of the neutral expert was held in The Hague on 27 and 28 February. At the same time, the next meeting is going to be held in September.
What was the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration
A statement from the Permanent Court of Arbitration said that in a unanimous decision, the Court rejected each of the objections raised by India. It has also been decided that the Court is competent to consider and determine the disputes in Pakistan’s arbitration request. The award is binding on all parties and cannot be appealed against. Along with this, the court had also said in the statement that it has also discussed with the World Bank in this regard. The World Bank is a signatory to this treaty between the two countries.
India had issued notice
India believes that the initiation of two concurrent processes to resolve the dispute is in violation of the provision of a three-stage graded mechanism set out in the agreement. Earlier, in January, India had issued a notice to Pakistan over amendments to the Indus Waters Treaty of September 1960. Let us inform that India has been a firm supporter, a responsible partner in implementing the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan in letter and spirit. Pakistan’s actions have adversely affected the provisions of the Indus Treaty. He had to do so in view of the stubbornness of Islamabad.
This is the purpose of the notice
The purpose of this notice is to provide an opportunity to Pakistan to enter into inter-governmental negotiations within 90 days to rectify the violations of the Indus Waters Treaty. This process will also update the Indus Water Treaty as the situation has changed over the last 62 years.
According to the treaty, India can use the waters of the eastern rivers without restriction, except for a few exceptions. India was given the right to use the waters of the Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers for transportation, electricity and agriculture under provisions related to India. In 2015, Pakistan requested the appointment of a neutral expert to investigate technical objections to the Indian Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects. In 2016, Pakistan unilaterally withdrew from this request and proposed to take these objections to the Court of Arbitration. If sources are to be believed, this unilateral step of Pakistan is in violation of the mechanism created for settlement of disputes in Article 9 of the Treaty.
Pakistan has repeatedly refused to discuss the Indus Water Treaty
Despite repeated attempts by India to move forward in a mutually agreeable manner, Pakistan refused to discuss the issue during five meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission from 2017 to 2022. On Pakistan’s continued insistence, The World Bank has recently initiated both the Neutral Expert and Court of Arbitration procedures. Such parallel views on similar issues do not fall under any provision of the Indus Water Treaty.
Know what is Indus Water Treaty?
In fact, under the provisions of the Indus Water Treaty, the waters of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi have been given to India and the waters of Indus, Jhelum and Chenab to Pakistan. India and Pakistan signed the Indus Waters Treaty on 19 September 1960 after nine years of negotiations, in which the World Bank is also a signatory. The water commissioners of the two countries meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to project sites and important river headworks.
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