India Draws Sovereignty Line On Indus Waters Case, Snubs Pakistan's Hague Manoeuvre | Exclusive Details

Last Updated:February 03, 2026, 00:31 IST

Top government sources indicate that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has told the tribunal that India will neither comply with its orders nor participate in its proceedings

India’s suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty after the Pahalgam attack has left Pakistan vulnerable to potential water shortages. (File pic/Reuters)

In a significant hardening of its diplomatic and strategic posture, India has categorically rejected the authority of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague regarding the long-standing Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) dispute. As hearings continue in the Netherlands, New Delhi has made it clear that it considers the tribunal “illegally constituted" and its recent directions, including a “supplemental award" and summons for operational data, as “per se void" and non-binding.

The Stand: Sovereignty over Arbitration

The latest flashpoint in this legal battle occurred after the Hague-based court issued a directive last week seeking sensitive operational records and logbooks from India’s Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu & Kashmir. India has rejected this demand outright, refusing to recognise the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

Top government sources indicate that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has formally informed the tribunal that India will neither comply with its orders nor participate in its proceedings. New Delhi argues that the creation of a parallel Court of Arbitration, while a neutral expert process (favoured by India) was already underway, constitutes a “brazen violation" of the treaty’s sequential dispute resolution framework.

The ‘Abeyance’ Doctrine

Central to India’s refusal is the broader security context. Following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, India exercised its sovereign rights under international law to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.

“Until fundamental security concerns are addressed and Pakistan credibly abjures its support for cross-border terrorism, India is not bound to perform any treaty obligations, including the sharing of hydrological data or participation in arbitration," a senior government source told CNN-News18.

By linking water cooperation directly to national security, New Delhi is again signalling that the era of “blood and water flowing together" is over. This shift effectively places all mandatory data-sharing—such as river flow levels and flood warnings—on indefinite hold.

Pakistan’s Strategy and India’s Response

Pakistan, which first objected to India’s project designs in 2015, has framed the PCA’s proceedings as a procedural victory. However, India has dismissed the entire Hague exercise as a “charade at Pakistan’s behest", designed to divert global attention from its role as a hub for terrorism.

The dispute has now moved beyond technical engineering and hydrology. It has become a high-stakes test of sovereignty and the limits of international arbitration. For India, the message is unequivocal: no international body has the jurisdiction to examine the legality of India’s sovereign actions in its own territory, especially while the treaty itself remains suspended due to security provocations.

News world India Draws Sovereignty Line On Indus Waters Case, Snubs Pakistan's Hague Manoeuvre | Exclusive Details

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