Pakistan wins Indus waters battle at The Hague, but India threat remainsThe Permanent Court of Arbitration says the treaty remains binding. But ...

Pakistan wins Indus waters battle at The Hague, but India threat remains
The Permanent Court of Arbitration says the treaty remains binding. But India has rejected the findings, raising questions about the benefits to Pakistan.

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A view of a dam surrounded by hills.
A view of Baglihar Dam, also known as Baglihar Hydroelectric Power Project, on the Chenab River that flows from Indian-administered Kashmir into Pakistan, at Chanderkote in Jammu region, May 6, 2025 [Reuters]

By Abid Hussain
Published On 1 Sep 2026
1 Sep 2026
|
Updated: 2 Sep 2026 09:03 AM (GMT)
Updated: 2 Sep 2026 09:03 AM (GMT)
Islamabad, Pakistan – A court of arbitration in The Hague has ruled that India cannot unilaterally suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, rejecting every argument New Delhi has used to justify holding the six-decade-old water-sharing agreement “in abeyance” since April 2025.

In a unanimous decision issued on Monday, the five-member court found that the treaty “remains fully in force” and that India “must observe its obligations” under it, including those governing the design and operation of hydropower projects on rivers that flow into Pakistan.

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The ruling is the first time an international court has ruled on whether India’s decision to place the treaty in abeyance is legally valid.

India announced the decision in April 2025, after a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, saying it would suspend the treaty until Pakistan “credibly and irrevocably” ends support for cross-border terrorism. Islamabad denies accusations that it was behind the attack, in which 26 civilians were killed by gunmen who first tried to determine the religion of their victims.

India has rejected the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) – an intergovernmental court outside the United Nations system whose mandate New Delhi has accepted in other cases – in the Indus Waters Treaty case brought by Pakistan to The Hague. India did not participate in any of the hearings that culminated in Monday’s ruling.