Indus Waters treaty representational image
Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the Permanent Court of Arbitration had reaffirmed that the treaty remained fully enforced and binding, according to news agency PTI. Pakistan, he said, would take “all possible measures” to ensure the decision was implemented. Andrabi said Pakistan remained committed to implementing the treaty in letter and spirit in accordance with its language and provisions. Pakistan will continue to urge India to reciprocate with the same approach whereby the treaty is upheld in letter and spirit and in its full legal documented provisions, he said, according to PTI. “India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance remains in force,” the ministry said. “This so-called Court was constituted by the World Bank in patent breach of the terms of the Treaty and India categorically rejects its so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements by this illegally constituted body”, the ministry stated. Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking at the summit, described water as the region’s “lifeblood” and said it “must never be weaponised”.
The dispute also featured indirectly at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, in Bishkek, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for action against countries that use terrorism as an instrument of state policy. On Monday, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said, “India categorically rejects its so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements by this illegally constituted body.