Previous noticeThis is not the first time that India has notified Pakistan about the need to revisit the treaty. In January 2023, New Delhi sought review citing Islamabad’s ‘intransigence’ in implementing the treaty, by raising repeated objections to hydro-electric projects on the Indian side.Welcoming the latest notice to Pakistan, former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said: “The treaty has served its purpose over the last six decades but developments over time warrant a review of the arrangements.”Pakistan’s standIn its rebuttal, Pakistan said all discussions could take place within the treaty’s existing framework. Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Islamabad is committed to the treaty and the issues could be discussed between the commissioners appointed by both countries. “The Indus Water Treaty is an important treaty that has served both Pakistan and India well over the last several decades. We believe it is the gold standard of bilateral treaties on water sharing and Pakistan is fully committed to its implementation. We expect India to also remain fully committed to the treaty,” Baloch said.What the treaty saysThe preamble of the treaty states, “The Government of India and the Government of Pakistan being equally desirous of attaining the most complete and satisfactory utilisation of waters of the Indus system of rivers and recognising the need, therefore of fixing and delimiting in spirit of goodwill and friendship, the rights and obligations of each in relation to the other concerning the use of these waters and making provision for the settlement in a cooperative spirit.’’According to India, Pakistan has been intentionally obstructing projects on the Indian side by misusing some provisions of the treaty. In 2016, Pakistan raised objections with the World Bank on the design features of these two projects and sought a settlement through a neutral expert. Later, it withdrew the request and sought adjudication through a Court of Arbitration.For its part, India moved a separate application asking for the appointment of a neutral expert to deal with the dispute. After negotiations failed, the World Bank accepted the demands of both sides by appointing a neutral expert and the chair of Court of Arbitration in October 2022.India opposed the decision saying such parallel consideration of the same issues is not allowed under the treaty. However, when the matter came up before the Court of Arbitration, it rejected India’s objections in a July 2023 ruling and appointed itself as the competent authority to consider and determine the dispute raised by Pakistan.India flatly rejected this fiat. “India cannot be compelled to recognise or participate in illegal and parallel proceedings not envisaged by the treaty,” then spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Arindam Bagchi said. Ever since, the country has boycotted proceedings in the Court of Arbitration.“It is a bit contradictory to activate both the neutral expert mechanism and the Court of Arbitration on the same set of issues. Also, a lot has changed between India and Pakistan since the last 60 years – including terrorism from Pakistan being on the ascendant. It is time for a review and modification,” a source said.
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