Key points
- Pakistan could raise the issue with World Bank
- Tensions run high between nuclear-armed countries
- India last week suspended Indus Waters Treaty of 1960
ISLAMABAD: Amid escalating tensions with India, Pakistan is preparing international legal action over India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
India last week suspended the World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty of 1960.
Tensions have been running high between the nuclear-armed countries since the Pahalgam incident.
Aqeel Malik, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Law and Justice, told Reuters late on Monday that Islamabad was working on plans for at least three different legal options, including raising the issue at the World Bank – the treaty’s facilitator.
“Almost complete”
“Legal strategy consultations are almost complete,” Malik said, adding the decision on which cases to pursue would be made “soon” and would likely include pursuing more than one avenue.
It was also considering taking action at the Permanent Court of Arbitration or at the International Court of Justice in the Hague where it could allege that India has violated the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, he said.
Legal strategy consultations are almost complete.” – Minister of State for Law and Justice Aqeel Malik
The treaty has survived major wars, but its future seems uncertain.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir, which they both rule in part but claim in full.
Distribution and use of waters
The treaty is an agreement for the distribution and use of waters from the Indus River and its tributaries, which feed 80 per cent of Pakistan’s irrigated agriculture and its hydropower.
Malik added that a fourth diplomatic option that Islamabad was considering was to raise the issue at the United Nations Security Council.
“All the options are on the table and we are pursuing all appropriate and competent forums to approach,” he said.
“The treaty cannot be suspended unilaterally and cannot be held in abeyance, there is not (such a) provision within the treaty,” said Malik.
