The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) remains fully in force, and India cannot unilaterally suspend or terminate the decades-old water-sharing agreement with Pakistan, an international Court of Arbitration ruled on Monday, delivering a major legal setback to New Delhi's decision to place the pact in "abeyance" last year.

In a unanimous award, the Court of Arbitration in The Hague found that India's April 2025 decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance was not permissible under the Treaty or applicable rules of international law. India therefore remains bound by its obligations under the agreement, including provisions governing its hydroelectric projects on the western rivers flowing into Pakistan.

The ruling came in arbitration proceedings initiated by Pakistan under Article IX and Annexure G of the Indus Waters Treaty, according to a press release issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The case concerns the interpretation and application of the Treaty and, in particular, Indian hydroelectric projects on the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers and their tributaries - known as the western rivers.

The dispute intensified after India announced on April 23, 2025, following an attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK), that the Indus Waters Treaty would be held "in abeyance" until Pakistan "credibly and irrevocably" abandoned what India described as support for cross-border terrorism. The arbitration court said the term "abeyance" has no technical meaning in international law and is not used in the Treaty itself.