By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: An international court ruled on Thursday that it could hear a dispute between India and Pakistan over two hydropower projects in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, rejecting India’s objections to its competence.
Pakistan had sought the intervention of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), based in The Hague, in 2016 after India began building the Kishanganga and Ratle plants on rivers that flow into Pakistan.
Pakistan says the projects violate a 1960 treaty that governs how the Indus River and its tributaries are shared. India says they are permitted and accuses Pakistan of stalling their development.
India did not attend a hearing on the PCA’s jurisdiction in May, nor did it appoint any arbitrators as allowed by the treaty.
The PCA rejected all six of India’s objections and found that it had the authority to consider Pakistan’s request, according to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
The statement said the PCA had upheld its competence and would now move forward to address the issues in dispute. It also reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the Indus Waters Treaty and hoped India would also implement it in good faith.
Pakistan welcomed the ruling and said it hoped India would also abide by the treaty, which allocates three eastern rivers to India and three western ones to Pakistan, with some exceptions.
India started building the 330-megawatt Kishanganga project on the Jhelum River and planned to construct the 850-megawatt Ratle project on the Chenab River. Pakistan says the Kishanganga and Ratle projects violate the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty that governs the sharing of the Indus River and its tributaries.
Pakistan had raised its concerns over the design and operation of the run-of-river plants with India through various channels since 2006 for Kishanganga and 2012 for Ratle, but failed to resolve them.
The treaty provides for two forums for settling disputes: a court of arbitration for legal, technical, and systemic issues, and a neutral expert for technical issues only. Pakistan requested a court of arbitration because of systemic questions requiring legal interpretation.
India responded by asking for a neutral expert. The World Bank, which brokered the treaty, suspended both processes in 2016 and invited both countries to negotiate and agree on one forum. They could not reach an agreement.
The World Bank lifted the suspension in October 2022 and created the arbitration court and appointed a neutral expert, but by then India had completed the Kishanganga project.
The PCA said India had not communicated with or appeared before it, nor appointed two arbitrators as allowed by the treaty.
The court began hearing the dispute in January amid reports that India was trying to unilaterally modify the treaty.
The PCA said in its ruling that it would now proceed to address the issues in dispute. It did not give a timeline for its final decision.
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