‘No jurisdiction, no authority’: India rejects tribunal order on projects under Indus Water Treaty 

India on February 2 rejected a “supplemental award” issued by a so-called Court of Arbitration on the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects, declaring that the tribunal has no legal standing, no jurisdiction, and no authority to question India’s actions as a sovereign nation. 

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that with the Indus Waters Treaty placed in abeyance, India is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the pact. New Delhi stressed that it does not recognise the existence of the arbitral body and considers all its proceedings and decisions illegal and void. 

“The constitution of this so-called Court of Arbitration is itself a serious breach of the Indus Waters Treaty,” the MEA said, underlining that India has never formally accepted or participated in the process. 

“No Court of Arbitration, much less this illegally constituted arbitral body which has no existence in the eye of law, has the jurisdiction to examine the legality of India’s actions in exercise of its rights as a sovereign,” the ministry stated. 

Government sources told NDTV that India views the tribunal as illegally formed and therefore sees no duty to comply with any interim orders, hearings, or awards. Any attempt by the court to assert authority, they said, amounts to overreach. 

India refuses data disclosure

The immediate trigger for the strong response was an order from the tribunal asking India to submit operational pondage logbooks of the Baglihar and Kishenganga hydropower projects. The documents were sought as part of what the court described as the “second phase on the merits” of the dispute. 

Hearings are scheduled for February 2 and 3 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, but the tribunal itself has noted that India has neither filed counter submissions nor indicated participation in the proceedings. 

New Delhi’s position is unequivocal: engaging with the process would lend legitimacy to a body it considers unlawful. 

Treaty Put in abeyance  

India has framed its stance within a broader national security context. Following the April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack, New Delhi placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, invoking its rights as a sovereign nation under international law. 

As part of this decision, India has stopped sharing hydrological data with Pakistan — including river flow levels, flood warnings, and glacier melt information — which had earlier been mandatory under the treaty. 

The MEA said the suspension will remain in place until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism, signalling that security considerations now override treaty-based cooperation. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan as "unjust," "one-sided," and detrimental to Indian farmers, declaring that "blood and water cannot flow together".