MEA reported that the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Vienna heard neutral expert proceedings in the Kishenganga and Ratle case on September 20 and 21.
The Indus Waters Treaty Neutral Expert summoned the summit at India’s request. Delegates from Pakistan and India attended.
Instead of the Indian delegation, the DWR Secretary attended.
India’s Lead Counsel, Senior Advocate Harish Salve KC, attended.
The MEA noted in a news statement that “India’s participation in this meeting is in line with India’s consistent, principled stand that, as per the graded mechanism provided for in the Indus Waters Treaty, only neutral expert proceedings are valid at this juncture.”
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India refused to engage in parallel arbitration proceedings by an “illegally constituted Court of Arbitration” on Kishenganga and Ratle Hydroelectric Projects (HEPs), according to the MEA.
“It is for this reason that India has taken the treaty-consistent decision to not participate in the parallel proceedings being conducted by an illegally constituted Court of Arbitration on the same set of issues pertaining to the Kishenganga and Ratle HEPs,” the MEA
Since neutral expert proceedings are continuing, MEA expects them to continue. India also pledged to simplify Indus Waters Treaty dispute resolution in business.
The Ministry of External Affairs announced in July that India cannot participate in parallel Indus Water Treaty procedures. It claimed the Court of Arbitration showed New Delhi’s “consistent and principled stand” that the Indus Waters Treaty was violated.
PCA stated in a news release that “we have seen a press release mentioning that an illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration has ruled that it has the ‘competence’ to consider matters concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects.”
India has always claimed the imaginary Court of Arbitration violates the Indus Waters Treaty. India cannot be forced into treaty-prohibited parallel processes.
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