Overview

• The Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a supplemental award in late June affirming its authority to hear Pakistan’s objections to India’s Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects despite the treaty’s suspension.
• India’s Ministry of External Affairs branded the Court of Arbitration illegal, calling its very constitution a breach of the Indus Waters Treaty and any awards void.
• New Delhi has kept the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance since April 23, stipulating that its obligations will resume only after Pakistan credibly abandons cross-border terrorism.
• Pakistan warned that any diversion of waters allocated under the pact will be treated as an act of war and plans to challenge India’s suspension at the PCA or the International Court of Justice.
• The dispute traces back to 2016 when Pakistan moved from a neutral expert to arbitration under the World Bank-appointed tribunal over India’s run-of-river projects on Indus tributaries.