India on Saturday (May 17) rejected an award reportedly issued by the Court of Arbitration (CoA) under the Indus Waters Treaty, calling the body “illegally constituted” and denying it any legal authority or legitimacy.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India does not recognise the ‘so-called’ Court of Arbitration and has consistently boycotted its proceedings. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the arbitration mechanism itself constitutes a breach of the treaty framework and reiterated that India rejects all pronouncements made by the body.
CoA’s award
The response came after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) issued what it called as a supplemental award related to “maximum pondage” at the Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
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The ruling reportedly concerns the volume of water India can store under the Indus Waters Treaty.
MEA’s response
In a strongly worded statement, the MEA said India “categorically rejects” the latest award, just as it had rejected earlier decisions delivered by the arbitration panel.
“The illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration (CoA) has, on 15 May 2026, issued what it termed an award concerning maximum pondage supplemental to the award on issues of general interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty,” the MEA said.
It further said, “India categorically rejects the present so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements of the illegally constituted CoA.”
Water treaty suspended
India also maintained that its decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance remains unchanged. The suspension was announced in April 2025 following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which India linked to Pakistan-backed terrorism.
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Since then, India has repeatedly stated that “water and blood cannot flow together,” asserting that the treaty freeze will continue until Pakistan ends cross-border terrorism.
Indus Waters Treaty
The Indus Waters Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan on September 19, 1960, with mediation by the World Bank, governs the sharing of water from the Indus river system between the two countries.
Under the agreement, the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — were allocated primarily to India, while the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — were largely reserved for Pakistan. However, India retains limited rights for non-consumptive uses, including hydropower generation, under specified conditions.
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The Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects have remained a longstanding source of dispute between the two countries. Pakistan has repeatedly approached international mechanisms challenging India’s hydropower projects on the western rivers, while India has argued that Islamabad has increasingly misused the treaty’s dispute resolution provisions for political purposes.
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