Pakistan, May 21 -- With the Permanent Court of Arbitration's landmark decision on the Indus Waters Treaty, two questions arise: first, what is the significance of this decision? Second, what implications will it carry?

Pakistan's position was clear. Under Article 26 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, no bilateral agreement can be suspended unilaterally. The arbitration court accepted this position.

Pakistan argued that the water flowing from India into Pakistan is not the exclusive property of India. Under the United Nations Watercourses Convention, it is a shared resource over which the downstream state, namely Pakistan, also holds legitimate rights. The court affirmed this position as well.

Pakistan maintained tha...