NEW DELHI — A government spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that an international Court of Arbitration—which the state insists has absolutely no legal standing—is taking up an unreasonable amount of the ministry's time. Following a June 27 "supplemental award" regarding the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects, officials were forced to once again categorically reject the authority of the tribunal they have been fighting since October 2022.

"We made it abundantly clear in April that the Indus Waters Treaty is currently 'in abeyance' following the Pahalgam terror attack," said an official, gesturing to a stack of unread international legal documents. "When a sovereign nation unilaterally places an international treaty in a drawer, the polite thing for a World Bank-constituted court to do is to stop issuing awards about it."

Records indicate the government has spent years trying to get the court to stop existing, issuing modification notices to Pakistan in January 2023 and September 2024 before finally placing the treaty in abeyance in April 2025. Despite these sovereign actions, the null and void court stubbornly continues to issue illegal rulings that the government must actively void.

"It sets a dangerous precedent," the official added, warning against the long-term implications of tribunals doing their jobs. "If international arbitration courts are allowed to just keep ruling on treaties after we unilaterally decide we are no longer bound by them, it could seriously complicate all the other international legal frameworks we actually like."