indus water treatyDeclared the decision ‘null and void’.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has never recognized the establishment of the court and will not accept any proceedings, awards or judgments issued by it.
Responding to media queries, Jaiswal said, “The illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration (CoA) has issued an award on May 15, 2026, in respect of the Maximum Pond, supplementing the award on issues of common interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty.”
“India categorically rejects the current so-called award, just as it has strongly rejected all prior declarations of illegally constituted CoA,” he said.
Jaiswal further said that any action taken by the tribunal has no legal validity from India’s point of view.
He said, “India has never recognized the establishment of this so-called CoA. Any proceedings, awards or decisions issued by it are invalid.”
He also reiterated that India’s decision to keep the Indus Water Treaty on hold will remain unchanged.
“India’s decision to keep the Indus Water Treaty on hold will remain in force,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
This comes after the Court of Arbitration on May 15 issued an award related to the ‘maximum pond’ issue under the Indus Waters Treaty. India has consistently said the court was created in violation of the treaty and has repeatedly rejected its jurisdiction over disputes related to the Kishanganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
Last year too, India had rejected a supplementary award issued by the court, terming the arbitration mechanism as ‘a play at the behest of Pakistan’ and accusing Islamabad of misusing international forums by continuing support for cross-border terrorism.
The Indus Water Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 with World Bank assistance, regulates the sharing of the waters of the Indus River system between the two countries.
Under the treaty, the total waters of the eastern rivers, Sutlej, Beas and Ravi, were allocated to India for unrestricted use, while the waters of the western rivers, Indus, Jhelum and Chenab, were largely allocated to Pakistan.
However, India is allowed to use water from western rivers for domestic use, irrigation and hydro-electric power generation. But due to lack of storage capacity, India is not able to fully utilize its legal share.
