Archive · 3 Sep 2026
Pakistan Urges India to Comply With Indus Waters Treaty
Pakistan and India share rivers covered by an agreement called the Indus Waters Treaty.
A court in The Hague said the agreement is still fully valid.
Pakistan says India should follow the agreement and use its legal processes.
India disagrees with the court’s authority and says its ruling cannot affect India’s actions.
India also says it has placed the treaty in abeyance.
Pakistan says countries should not follow international law only when it is convenient.
The disagreement could affect cooperation over shared water resources.
Both countries have offered different views about what the treaty and the court’s decision mean.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that the Indus Waters Treaty remains fully in force.
Pakistan urged India to resume full compliance and respect the treaty’s dispute-settlement mechanisms.
India rejected the ruling, saying the court was constituted in breach of the treaty and lacks jurisdiction.
India said its decision to place the treaty in abeyance remains in effect.
Pakistan applied to the court in March after India suspended the treaty following the Pahalgam attack.
- Who
- Pakistan and India, with Pakistan represented at the briefing by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi.
- What
- A dispute over India’s decision to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance and the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling that the treaty remains in force.
- When
- Pakistan responded on Wednesday; India rejected the court’s decision on Monday, and Pakistan applied to the court in March.
- Where
- The dispute concerns shared waters between Pakistan and India; the court referenced is the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.
- Why
- Pakistan seeks India’s return to treaty compliance, while India says the court lacks jurisdiction and that its abeyance decision remains valid after the Pahalgam attack.
Pakistan’s Position
India’s Position
Validity of the treaty
Pakistan’s Position
Pakistan says the court’s ruling confirms that the Indus Waters Treaty remains fully in force and that India must comply with it.
India’s Position
India says its decision to hold the treaty in abeyance remains in effect.
Authority of the court
Pakistan’s Position
Pakistan says India must respect the treaty’s institutional and dispute-settlement mechanisms, which it says both countries accepted.
India’s Position
India says the Court of Arbitration was constituted in breach of the treaty, has no jurisdiction over India’s sovereign decisions, and that its pronouncements have no effect on India’s actions.
Broader implications
Pakistan’s Position
Pakistan says rejecting binding treaty obligations could create adverse precedents for shared resources and undermine peace and stability in South Asia.
India’s Position
India’s statement, as reported, focuses on rejecting the court’s authority and does not accept the ruling’s effect on its actions.
- Treaty at issue
- Indus Waters Treaty
- Court ruling
- The Permanent Court of Arbitration said the treaty remains fully in force.
- Pakistan’s position
- India should return to full compliance and respect the treaty’s dispute-settlement mechanisms.
- India’s position
- The court was constituted in patent breach of the treaty and has no jurisdiction over India’s sovereign decisions.
- India’s stated policy
- India’s decision to hold the treaty in abeyance remains in force.
- Pakistan’s court application
- Pakistan applied in March to determine the treaty’s status after India’s abeyance decision.
- Trigger cited by India
- India placed the treaty in abeyance after the Pahalgam attack last year.