Rightful stance

It's a legal and moral triumph for Pakistan as its stance on water sharing with upper riparian India is upheld under the international law. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague yesterday ruled that Islamabad's position regarding maximum pondage limits are rational, and New Delhi's policy to construct hydroelectric projects on the western rivers are in contravention of the spirit of Indus Waters Treaty. In a supplemental ruling concerning India's Rattle and Kishanganga hydroelectric projects on the rivers that Pakistan relies on, the jury opined that India cannot "simply claim that it needs large storage capacity without solid justification".

This is a blow to India's transgression on water sharing with Pakistan, as the PCA observation categorically stated that any pondage must be based on real project needs, actual expected operation, site geography and water flow data – and not on imagined capacity or unrealistic assumptions. The three-day hearing on a petition filed in 2016 undertook a detailed review of the IWT's interpretation and application, particularly regarding the design of Indian hydropower projects and their downstream impact on Sindh, Jhelum and Chenab rivers, and their tributaries.

The PCA ruling has strengthened Pakistan's oversight role, calling upon India to give Pakistan enough information to properly assess whether the mentioned projects comply with the treaty. This is, indeed, a reaffirmation that the treaty places real limits on India's ability to control water on the western rivers. The fact that India has flatly rejected the award, calling the court "illegally constituted" and its decisions "null and void" is an extension of its hyperbole in interstate relations, wherein it is obsessed with hoodwinking world public opinion on the premise of its geographic muscles. Such a contention, however, is devoid of law. The dictum has, nonetheless, come as an opportunity in disaster for Delhi to rescind its unlawful decision of holding the IWT in abeyance, and let the lifeline for millions down the stream be restored in all humility.