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Demonstrating unyielding national resolve, India delivered a robust diplomatic rebuff to Pakistan on Tuesday, exposing Islamabad's persistent reliance on manufacturing falsehoods and distorting facts regarding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal issued a resolute statement during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, decisively puncturing Islamabad's claims surrounding an alleged pronouncement by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. "I would like to say that Pakistan has a habit of misrepresenting facts and propagating falsehoods to serve its malicious propaganda. For starters, the so-called ruling is not a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, as sought to be projected by the Pakistani minister. It is a ruling by an illegally constituted court. We see this as just one more attempt by Pakistan to distort reality. Our position on this issue is very clear, and we have reiterated it several times," Jaiswal stated. This firm stance builds upon New Delhi's decisive rejection last month of an unauthorised "award" issued by a flawed arbitration panel concerning interim measures under the water pact. Rejecting the so-called "award", the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the so-called "Court of Arbitration" was set up by the World Bank in patent breach of the terms of the treaty. "Today, the illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration (CoA) has issued what it termed as an award concerning Interim Measures and Status of the Indus Waters Treaty. 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 MEA stated on August 31. Reiterating its unyielding legal posture, the MEA underscored that India has never recognised the existence in law of "the illegally-constituted and so-called Court of Arbitration" and consistently maintained that the creation of this alleged arbitral body constitutes a grave violation of the IWT. "Accordingly, India has never appeared before this body and has refused to take any cognisance of its earlier pronouncements. This so-called Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction whatsoever to pronounce on Indias sovereign decisions. Its pronouncements, now or in the future, will have no effect on Indias actions in connection with the projects being undertaken by India," the MEA mentioned. Furthermore, New Delhi reaffirmed that the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty remains in force. The water-sharing accord was signed between India and Pakistan on September 19, 1960, concerning the utilisation of the waters of the Indus system rivers. In the wake of last year's heinous Pahalgam terror attack, India exercised its rights as a sovereign nation under international law and placed IWT in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had earlier reiterated India's consistent stance on the IWT in June, making it categorically clear that bilateral cooperation remains suspended until cross-border terror completely stops. "We have suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and kept it in abeyance until Pakistan completely stops cross-border terrorism," Jaiswal said. (ANI)
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