IN its recent press release on ‘The Indus Waters Western Rivers Arbitration (Pakistan vs India), PCA Case No. 2023-01’, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has delivered an award in favour of Pakistan.
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Court → deliver → Pakistan
The award, issued on Aug 31, 2026, strongly vindicates Pakistan’s position, which it has consistently maintained in diplomatic forums and in the international media.
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it → issue → media
It illustrates that the principles of international law firmly support Pakistan’s case.
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principles → illustrate → case
Established in 1899, The Hague-based PCA is one of the world’s oldest institutions for the peaceful resolution of international disputes.
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PCA → establish → disputes
It has earned considerable international standing for the integrity of its proceedings, the quality of its decisions and the calibre of the jurists who serve on its tribunals.
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who → earn → tribunals
It shares its premises with the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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It → share → Justice
Those who authored this verdict — the details of which will be made public soon — were selected under the procedure prescribed in Annexure G (Court of Arbitration) to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which requires arbitrators to be well versed in international law.
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which → author → law
Accordingly, the PCA is chaired by Prof Sean D. Murphy (US), a prominent international law scholar and practitioner.
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PCA → chair → Murphy
He sits alongside Prof Wouter Buytaert (Belgium), a specialist in hydrology and water resources; Prof Jeffrey P. Minear (US), an experienced legal practitioner; Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan), a former ICJ judge; and Dr Donald Blackmore (Australia), an expert in water-resource management and policy.
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He → sit → management
Pakistan had initiated proceedings, saying, “Look, the continued construction of two Indian hydropower projects violates the engineering requirements laid down in Annexes D and E of the IWT”.
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construction → initiate → IWT
These requirements had been designed to ensure that water flowing to the lower riparian was not obstructed by engineering deviations in upstream projects.
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water → design → projects
The concern, therefore, was that the construction by India, the upper riparian, in territory it controversially controls and occupies, could interfere with the flow of water intended to continue downstream to Pakistan.
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it → control → Pakistan
India had sidestepped this allegation by controverting the jurisdiction of the PCA and maintaining that the matter should only be brought before a neutral expert under Annexure F as it concerns “technical differences” rather than a “legal dispute”.
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it → sidestep → dispute
Notwithstanding these objections, the court continued the hearing regarding the controversial hydroelectric projects.
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court → continue → projects
The Permanent Court of Arbitration’s award in favour of Pakistan vindicates this country’s position.
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award → vindicate → position
Then on April 23, 2025, following the Pahalgam attack, India announced that the IWT would henceforth be held in abeyance.
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IWT → follow → abeyance
At this juncture, the PCA, seeking to satisfy itself that it possessed the requisite jurisdiction, invited both parties to make submissions.
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it → seek → submissions
India, however, again chose to stay away.
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India → choose → ?
In contrast, Pakistan has always opted to participate in strategic litigation of this nature.
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Pakistan → opt → nature
In both the Kulbhushan Jadhav and Republic of the Marshall Islands cases before the ICJ, Pakistan overcame its initial hesitation.
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Pakistan → overcome → hesitation
It chose to participate in the proceedings — a consequential decision that ensured its legal position was represented and defended before the court.
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position → choose → court
The reasoning for this rests on an age-old law: if a party wishes to challenge a court’s jurisdiction, it must appear before that very court and object.
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it → rest → court
Even though Indian officials unleashed venom against the PCA and its proceedings, the court’s procedural wheels continued to turn.
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wheels → unleash → PCA
Eventually, it gave the present award, which destroyed New Delhi’s political basis for holding the IWT in abeyance.
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which → give → abeyance
The court approached the matter with considerable care.
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court → approach → care
Rather than treating India’s refusal to participate as an opportunity to proceed on Pakistan’s case alone, it independently examined the legal arguments and factual circumstances that might have supported India’s position on placing the IWT in abeyance.
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that → treat → abeyance
The court went so far as to consider material available in the public domain, including statements by Indian officials explaining the reasons advanced for India’s decision.
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court → go → decision
The PCA then turned to the possible legal grounds on which India might seek to justify placing the treaty in abeyance.
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India → turn → abeyance
It examined whether the circumstances surrounding the IWT had fundamentally changed since 1960, taking into account demographic shifts, India’s growing demand for clean energy, advances in dam technology, and the effects of climate change.
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circumstances → examine → change
None, in the court’s view, met the demanding threshold required under international law to justify suspending or terminating a treaty.
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None → meet → treaty
The PCA also considered India’s allegation that Pakistan’s frequent invocation of the dispute-resolution process constituted a material breach.
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invocation → consider → breach
Here too, the argument did not hold, and India could not establish a material breach on these grounds.
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India → hold → grounds
The court held that this type of treaty couldn’t be treated as suspended even during armed conflict.
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type → hold → conflict
Most importantly, it found that the IWT was intact and remained binding on both sides.
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IWT → find → sides
Allegations of cross-border terrorism against Pakistan have long occupied a prominent place in India’s political discourse.
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Allegations → occupy → discourse
India expressly relied upon it in its April 2025 communication placing the IWT in abeyance, and alleging that Pakistan’s support for terrorism had undermined the basis on which the IWT could continue to operate.
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IWT → rely → which
The PCA press release states that the court took this allegation extremely seriously, yet came to the conclusion that the act of terrorism was extraneous to the IWT and did not pertain to the treaty framework.
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act → state → framework
The PCA went on to say that even if terrorism allegations against Pakistan were true, they would not be valid grounds for breaching the IWT.
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they → go → IWT
This was a very significant finding from Pakistan’s perspective, and it exposed the absurdity of Indian arguments against Pakistan, based on the latter’s unproved responsibility for the acts of terrorism.
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it → expose → terrorism
The court’s interim measures effectively halt further construction and concreting by India while the neutral expert continues his examination of technical issues.
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expert → halt → issues
…and 3 more, not listed.
