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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday welcomed the Supplemental Award issued by the Court of Arbitration in the Indus Waters Treaty proceedings, saying the ruling had firmly upheld Islamabad&rsquo;s long-standing position that India&rsquo;s water-control capability on the Western Rivers remained subject to strict Treaty limitations.&nbsp;In an official statement issued after the Award dated May 15, 2026, the Government of Pakistan said the Court had affirmed that the Indus Waters Treaty imposed &ldquo;substantive limits on India&rsquo;s water-control capability on the Western Rivers,&rdquo; adding that such restrictions &ldquo;are not formalities.&rdquo;&nbsp;The government stated that the ruling established that pondage for a Run-of-River hydropower project &ldquo;must be justified by real project needs, actual expected operation, site hydrology, hydraulic conditions, power-system requirements, and the information and explanation required under the Treaty.&rdquo;&nbsp;The Supplemental Award concerns the long-running design disputes relating to India&rsquo;s Ratle Hydroelectric Plant and Kishenganga Hydroelectric Project under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.&nbsp;The ruling comes amid heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours following the 2025 Pahalgam incident, after which India announced suspension of water cooperation measures relating to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty framework.&nbsp;&nbsp;Islamabad has consistently maintained that the Treaty is an internationally binding agreement that cannot be unilaterally suspended or held in abeyance by either party.&nbsp;Pakistan said the Court&rsquo;s latest findings built upon the General Issues Award issued on August 8, 2025, and provided practical effect to the principle that &ldquo;installed capacity and anticipated load must be realistic, well-founded and defensible.&rdquo;&nbsp;According to the statement, the Court held that installed capacity &ldquo;must correspond to actual expected operation, hydrologic and hydraulic data, and Treaty requirements,&rdquo; while anticipated load &ldquo;must correspond to actual expected operation and to the projected needs of the power system the plant is intended to serve.&rdquo;&nbsp;It described the findings as addressing &ldquo;a core Treaty concern,&rdquo; asserting that India could not justify expanded pondage through &ldquo;imagined capacity, artificial load curves, unrealistic peaking assumptions, or bare assertions of compliance with Paragraph 15 release limits.&rdquo;&nbsp;&ldquo;Paragraph 15 remains an operational constraint, but it is not a substitute for an evidence-based justification of the water-control capacity sought,&rdquo; the statement said.&nbsp;The government further stated that the Award strengthened Pakistan&rsquo;s review rights under the Treaty by placing responsibility on India to provide sufficient technical data and explanation to establish compliance.&nbsp;&ldquo;If India fails to do so, it fails to carry its burden of establishing that the proposed maximum Pondage satisfies Paragraph 8(c) of Annexure D,&rdquo; the statement added.&nbsp;Pakistan also noted that the Court confirmed any applicable minimum-flow obligation must be considered while calculating pondage required for Firm Power generation, where such obligations exist and are not otherwise fulfilled.&nbsp;The government emphasized that the Court had earlier ruled that awards issued by the Court of Arbitration were &ldquo;final and binding on the Parties&rdquo; and carried &ldquo;controlling legal effect for subsequent Treaty bodies on relevant questions of Treaty interpretation.&rdquo;&nbsp;Pakistan said it would place these interpretations before the Neutral Expert process &ldquo;consistent with Treaty procedures and applicable confidentiality arrangements.&rdquo;&nbsp;Reaffirming commitment to the Indus Waters Treaty and peaceful dispute resolution, Pakistan said it would continue pursuing &ldquo;every lawful and diplomatic means&rdquo; to ensure hydroelectric projects on the Western Rivers were designed and operated &ldquo;strictly within Treaty limits.&rdquo;&nbsp;Calling the ruling a &ldquo;strategic consolidation&rdquo; of Pakistan&rsquo;s Treaty position, the statement said the Award established that &ldquo;maximum Pondage must be realistic, evidence-based, hydrologically grounded, power-system justified, Treaty-compliant, and incapable of inflation through artificial assumptions.&rdquo;

Foreign Affairs

The Court of Arbitration holds that maximum pondage under the Indus Waters Treaty must be realistically justified through hydrological, operational and power-system evidence, rejecting inflated assumptions and requiring India to provide sufficient data establishing Treaty compliance.

Articles tagged with "Pakistan hails Hague backing"

‘Strategic consolidation’: Pakistan hails Hague backing on Treaty rights

‘Strategic consolidation’: Pakistan hails Hague backing on Treaty rights