India's BIG Move Against Pakistan, Rejects International Court Ruling On Kashmir Hydropower Project, Calls Proceedings Illegal

Earlier, New Delhi had clarified it cannot be compelled to participate in “illegal” proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects in Kashmir after the Hague-based tribunal ruled that it has the “competence” to consider the dispute between New Delhi and Islamabad on the matter.

"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," the Ministry Of External Affairs said in a statement released on Friday.

The Ministry has clarified 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 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."

In January 2023, India issued a notice to Pakistan seeking a review and modification of the Indus Waters Treaty in view of Islamabad’s “intransigence” to comply with the dispute redressal mechanism of the pact. The pact, brokered by the World Bank, was inked in 1960 for matters relating to cross-border rivers.

India considers the start of the two concurrent processes to resolve the dispute violates the provision of the three-step graded mechanism prescribed in the pact.

"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. 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," it said.

"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," it added

This is a breaking news. More details will be added.