Indus Waters Treaty ruling a ‘significant legal victory’ for Pakistan, expert says

Pakistan has scored “a significant legal victory” in a dispute with India over the Indus Waters Treaty, international law expert Ahmer Bilal Soofi told Nukta.

The International Court of Arbitration reaffirmed Pakistan’s rights under the 1960 treaty, which was brokered by the World Bank and divided the Indus basin rivers between the two countries.

“The ruling reaffirms not only Pakistan’s rights under the Indus Waters Treaty but also the general principle in international law that obligates an upper riparian to maintain water flow to a lower riparian,” Soofi said.

He criticized India’s boycott of the proceedings and its claim of “holding the treaty in abeyance,” calling it “alien to international law” and absent from the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. “In treaty law, there is either termination or suspension – nothing in between,” he said.

Soofi linked India’s stance to broader political aims, including its revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and claims over Gilgit-Baltistan. He warned that any Indian obstruction of Pakistan’s share could trigger lawful countermeasures, including those under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Analysts say the ruling strengthens Pakistan’s diplomatic position while exposing India’s growing isolation over treaty compliance.