India on Friday rejected the ‘supplemental award’ by Indus Waters Court of Arbitration, calling the proceedings illegal.
The Ministry Of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement, “Today, the illegal Court of Arbitration, purportedly constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, albeit in brazen violation of it, has issued what it characterizes as a “supplemental award” on its competence concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”
India has called the Court of Arbitration a serious breach of the Indus Waters Treaty and the proceedings and decision taken by it as illegal.
“India has never recognised the existence in law of this so-called Court of Arbitration, and India’s position has all along been that 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,” MEA said.
India has said that it put Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance after Pahalgam terrorist attack and will continue to do so until Pakistan renounces its support to cross-border terrorism.
“Following the Pahalgam terrorist attack, India has in exercise of its rights as a sovereign nation under international law, placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. Until such time that the Treaty is in abeyance, India is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the Treaty,” they added.
India has insisted that while the Indus Waters Court of Arbitration has no existence in the eyes of law, it has the jurisdiction to examine the legality of India’s actions.
“No Court of Arbitration, much less this illegally constituted arbitral body which has no existence in the eye of law, has the jurisdiction to examine the legality of India’s actions in exercise of its rights as a sovereign,” MEA said.
“India, therefore, categorically rejects this so-called supplemental award as it has rejected all prior pronouncements of this body,” MEA said.
India has called ‘supplemental award’ a ‘charade’ at Pakistan’s behest to escape accountability for its role as the global epicenter of terrorism.
“This latest charade at Pakistan’s behest is yet another desperate attempt by it to escape accountability for its role as the global epicenter of terrorism. Pakistan’s resort to this fabricated arbitration mechanism is consistent with its” decades-long pattern of deception and manipulation of international forums,” MEA said.
