Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 02: Pakistan has urged India to engage constructively within the Indus Waters Treaty framework. This call comes after India rejected the Hague-based Court of Arbitration’s recent award. India maintains its decision to hold the treaty in abeyance remains firmly in force. The sharply divergent positions highlight fundamental disagreements between India and Pakistan on the treaty.
Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad remained committed to implementing the treaty. The spokesperson said Pakistan would urge India to adopt the same constructive approach. Andrabi added that the Court of Arbitration reaffirmed the treaty as fully enforced. Pakistan said it would take all possible measures to ensure full implementation.
India, however, rejects the arbitration body’s jurisdiction and authority over sovereign matters entirely. The Ministry of External Affairs said the court was illegally constituted from the start. India does not recognise the existence in law of the Court of Arbitration. India also did not participate in the arbitration proceedings initiated by Pakistan formally. India maintains the court’s award has no effect on India’s sovereign decisions whatsoever.
The disagreement intensified after India placed the treaty in abeyance last year previously. This decision followed the Pahalgam terror attack in April that killed civilians. Pakistan approached the Court of Arbitration in The Hague seeking treaty-status determination. The court subsequently issued an order, which Pakistan welcomed as fully binding legally.
India’s position rests fundamentally on asserting its sovereign right to make decisions. New Delhi argues that no external body can compel India’s water-policy decisions unilaterally. The treaty’s status and India’s water governance remain matters of national sovereignty entirely. India views the arbitration body as lacking any legitimate legal authority whatsoever over India.
Pakistan’s position rests on treaty obligations and the need for continued engagement. Islamabad argues the treaty remains fully enforceable despite India’s abeyance decision unilaterally imposed. Pakistan maintains the arbitration award reaffirms the treaty as binding on both nations. Islamabad seeks to resume constructive engagement within the treaty framework with India.
The latest statements from both capitals underscore deeply entrenched and divergent legal positions. While Pakistan calls for renewed engagement under the treaty framework constructively today. India continues to maintain that its abeyance decision remains in full force. The fundamental disagreement centres on treaty status, arbitration jurisdiction and sovereign authority clearly.
Neither country shows signs of immediately shifting its position in the near term. India’s emphasis remains on sovereignty and non-recognition of external arbitration authority completely. Pakistan’s emphasis remains on treaty implementation and constructive bilateral engagement on water. The dispute reflects broader tensions in India-Pakistan bilateral relations continuing presently today.
