India on Tuesday welcomed the ruling of the World Bank-appointed neutral expert that he is competent to address certain issues related to projects under the Indus Water Treaty, in what is being seen as a setback to Pakistan.
”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. India welcomes the decision given by the Neutral Expert under Paragraph 7 of Annexure F to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.
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The MEA said the decision upholds and vindicates India’s stand that all seven questions that were referred to the neutral expert, in relation to the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir, are differences falling within his competence under the treaty.
New Delhi said 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, it noted.
The MEA said that 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 recognise or participate in the illegally constituted Court of Arbitration proceedings.
”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,” it said.
