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A World Bank-appointed neutral expert has backed New Delhi’s position on the framework to resolve certain disputes between India and Pakistan on Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects.
While India has been pressing for resolution of the issues by the neutral expert as mandated under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) between the two countries, Pakistan has been backing the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to resolve them.
On Tuesday India welcomed Lino’s decision. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “India welcomes the decision given by the Neutral Expert under Paragraph 7 of Annexure F to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960. The decision upholds and vindicates India’s stand that all seven (07) questions that were referred to the Neutral Expert, in relation to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects, are differences falling within his competence under the Treaty.”
“It has been India’s consistent and principled position that the Neutral Expert alone has the competence under the Treaty to decide these differences. Having upheld his own competence, which comports with India’s view, the Neutral Expert will now proceed to the next (merits) phase of his proceedings. This phase will culminate in a final decision on the merits of each of the seven differences,” the MEA statement said.
It said, “Being committed to preserving the sanctity and integrity of the Treaty, India will continue to participate in the Neutral Expert process so that the differences are resolved in a manner consistent with the provisions of the Treaty, which does not provide for parallel proceedings on the same set of issues. For this reason, India does not recognise or participate in the illegally constituted Court of Arbitration proceedings.”
The Ministry reiterated that India and Pakistan remain in touch on the matter of modification and review of the Indus Waters Treaty, under Article XII (3) of the Treaty.
On Monday (January 20, 2025), the Neutral Expert issued a statement on his competence to address certain issues related to projects under the Indus Waters Treaty.
Signed in 1960, the Indus Waters Treaty sought to ensure equitable water distribution amid growing tensions between India and Pakistan. India was granted unrestricted access to the water from the ‘Eastern Rivers’ — the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi — and Pakistan retained rights to the waters from the ‘Western Rivers’ Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab.
Last year, India had sent a formal notice to Pakistan seeking a “review” of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). The notice was issued to Pakistan on August 30, 2024, under Article XII (3) of the IWT. In January 2023, New Delhi issued a notice to Islamabad for “modification” of the treaty under the same article.
India is constructing two hydroelectric power projects—the Kishenganga HE project on Kishenganga river, a tributary of Jhelum, and the Ratle Hydroelectric project on Chenab river. However, Pakistan has objected to the construction of these two projects. In 2015, Pakistan requested the appointment of a Neutral Expert to examine its technical objections to India’s Kishenganga and Ratle Hydro Electric Projects (HEPs). In 2016, Pakistan unilaterally retracted this request and proposed that a Court of Arbitration adjudicate its objections. This unilateral action by Pakistan is in contravention of the graded mechanism of dispute settlement envisaged by Article IX of IWT.
Accordingly, India made a separate request for the matter to be referred to a Neutral Expert.
(With PTI inputs)
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