India rejects Hague court's ‘illegal’ ruling on J&K hydroelectric projects: 'Charade at Pakistan's behest'

India on Friday firmly rejected a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague concerning two hydroelectric projects – Kishenganga and Ratle – located in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismissed the decision as a “so-called supplemental award,” stating that India has never accepted the framework under which this arbitration was conducted.

The MEA noted that India does not recognise the jurisdiction of the court in this matter, especially regarding dispute resolution mechanisms involving Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty.

In its ruling, the Court of Arbitration said India's decision in April to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance “does not limit” its competence over the dispute and that its ruling is binding on the parties.

“This latest charade at Pakistan's behest is yet another desperate attempt by it to escape accountability for its role as the global epicenter of terrorism,” the MEA said.

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“Pakistan's resort to this fabricated arbitration mechanism is consistent with its decades-long pattern of deception and manipulation of international forums,” it said in a statement.

India has never recognised the proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration after Pakistan raised objections to certain design elements of the two projects under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty.

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“Today, the illegal Court of Arbitration, purportedly constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, albeit in brazen violation of it, has issued what it characterizes as a 'supplemental award' on its competence concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” the MEA said.

“India has never recognised the existence in law of this so-called Court of Arbitration,” it said.

The MEA said India's position has all along been that the constitution of this so-called arbitral body is in itself a serious breach of the Indus Waters Treaty and consequently any proceedings before this forum and any award or decision taken by it are also illegal for that reason.

A day after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, India took a series of punitive measures against Pakistan that included putting the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in “abeyance”.

“Following the Pahalgam terrorist attack, India has in exercise of its rights as a sovereign nation under international law, placed the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism,” the MEA said.

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“Until such time that the treaty is in abeyance, India is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the treaty,” it said.

“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,” it added.

India, therefore, categorically rejects this so-called supplemental award as it has rejected all prior pronouncements of this body, it said.

(With inputs from PTI)