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Indus Waters Treaty, 1960 — Decision by the Neutral Expert on his competence

India - Ministry of External Affairs

January 21, 2025

The Neutral Expert has issued a press release on 20th January 2025 on his competence to address certain issues related to projects under the Indus Waters Treaty.

2. India welcomes the decision given by the Neutral Expert under Paragraph 7 of Annexure F to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960. The decision upholds and vindicates India's stand that all seven (07) questions that were referred to the Neutral Expert, in relation to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects, are differences falling within his competence under the Treaty.

3. It has been India's consistent and principled position that the Neutral Expert alone has the competence under the Treaty to decide these differences. Having upheld his own competence, which comports with India's view, the Neutral Expert will now proceed to the next (merits) phase of his proceeding. This phase will culminate in a final decision on the merits of each of the seven differences.

4. Being committed to preserving the sanctity and integrity of the Treaty, India will continue to participate in the Neutral Expert process so that the differences are resolved in a manner consistent with the provisions of the Treaty, which does not provide for parallel proceedings on the same set of issues. For this reason, India does not recognize or participate in the illegally constituted Court of Arbitration proceedings.

5. The Governments of India and Pakistan also remain in touch on the matter of modification and review of the Indus Waters Treaty, under Article XII (3) of the Treaty.

New Delhi
January 21, 2025