New Delhi, May 16 -- India on Saturday dismissed a ruling issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague related to hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir, calling the tribunal illegally formed and its decisions without legal standing.
The court, which had been hearing Pakistan's objections to India's Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, issued what it described as an award on May 15 addressing maximum pondage, supplemental to an earlier ruling on the treaty's general interpretation.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi has never accepted the tribunal's legitimacy. "India categorically rejects the present so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements of the illegally constituted CoA," he said, adding that any proceeding, award, or decision issued by the body is "null and void".
Jaiswal also confirmed that India's decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty in "abeyance" remains in effect. That step was taken the day after the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, when India announced a series of punitive measures against Pakistan, suspending the six-decade-old treaty among them.
India has consistently maintained that the Court of Arbitration was improperly constituted, a position it has held throughout the proceedings. Saturday's rejection follows that same stand, with New Delhi making clear it does not intend to recognise any outcome from the tribunal.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.