September 3, 2026<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD \u2013 THE unanimous decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague is unambiguous: India\u2019s unilateral withdrawal from the Indus Waters Treaty is invalid. This is a moral and legal victory for Pakistan, endorsed by a respected third party.<\/p>\n
India has, however, said that it does not recognise the court, and \u201ccategorically\u201d rejects the verdict. New Delhi\u2019s response reflects its usual mix of arrogance and disregard for global conventions when matters do not go in its favour. The PCA has said that none of the grounds India has provided for abandoning the IWT \u201cjustify suspension or termination\u201d of the treaty. The court has also called for suspending work on the Ratle hydropower project in occupied Kashmir.<\/p>\n
With apparent reference to the developments, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the SCO summit in Bishkek on Tuesday that water cannot be weaponised, and that \u201ctreaties governing our shared waters are solemn\u201d. The Hague award only strengthens Pakistan\u2019s case, and the government must pursue all avenues to protect the country\u2019s water rights. Pakistan has consistently been arguing that India\u2019s suspension of the IWT last year, after the Pahalgam episode, is legally untenable.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, India picks and chooses which international laws it wishes to respect. It has recognised earlier PCA decisions, but in the present instance, it is attempting to engage in legal jugglery to escape its responsibility of restoring the IWT. India\u2019s prime minister often lectures the international community about the need to uphold the \u2018rules-based order\u2019. Yet when the global system rules against it, India tramples these same standards underfoot. This is not a new phenomenon. New Delhi has been ignoring the UN resolution on the Kashmir plebiscite for nearly eight decades.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has proposed a three-step process to resolve the IWT imbroglio. This includes respecting the treaty in \u201cletter and spirit\u201d; addressing all disputes through its mechanisms, and restoring \u201ctechnical engagement \u2026 and data-sharing\u201d between Pakistan and India. This is a logical roadmap towards restoring the IWT. Yet bellicosity and bluster have replaced rationality and statesmanship in New Delhi.<\/p>\n
But Pakistan cannot afford to cede to India\u2019s obduracy and give away its water rights. The IWT is a critical framework for protecting these rights, as the Indus and its tributaries are a lifeline for this country. India should engage constructively with Pakistan, and agree to restore the IWT. If it wants any changes to the treaty, let it discuss these with Pakistan at the negotiating table. The blockade of Pakistan\u2019s rightful waters will not be accepted. If India goes ahead with its malign plans to deprive Pakistan of water, it will be sowing the seeds of renewed conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 3, 2026 ISLAMABAD \u2013 THE unanimous decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-42873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-hague","tag-the-hague"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}