India trashes 'supplemental award' by Court of Arbitration on Kishenganga, Ratle power projects
New Delhi, June 27 (UNI) India Today castigated the illegal Court of Arbitration and trashed its so-called supplemental award concerning Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.
''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 External Affairs Ministry said.
It said India has never recognised the existence in law of this so-called Court of Arbitration and 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. Therefore, any proceedings before this forum and any award or decision taken by it are also illegal and per se void.
The Ministry said that 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. Until such time that the Treaty is in abeyance, India is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the Treaty.
''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. India, therefore, categorically rejects this so-called supplemental award as it has rejected all prior pronouncements of this body,' ,'' the Ministry said in a strongly worded statement...
The statement said the 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.
Pakistan's resort to this fabricated arbitration mechanism is consistent with its decades-long pattern of deception and manipulation of international forums, it added.
The Kishenganga Hydro-Electric Project (KHEP) dispute between India and Pakistan was addressed by a Court of Arbitration constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty. The Court ruled on the project's impact on the Kishenganga/Neelum River and Pakistan's downstream hydroelectric project. India was permitted to divert water for the KHEP.
The latest ruling by the Court of Arbitration in the Kishanganga dispute is that it has the jurisdiction to consider the dispute between India and Pakistan regarding the Kishanganga and Ratle hydropower projects.
Pakistan raised concerns about the design and water usage of the Kishanganga (330 MW) and Ratle (850 MW) hydroelectric projects claiming they violated the Indus Waters Treaty. India, however, maintains that the dispute should be handled by a neutral expert appointed by the World Bank as stipulated in the Indus Water Treaty. India also argues that the Arbitration Court's involvement is a violation of the Treaty's dispute resolution mechanism.
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