The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA’s) August 2025 decision on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is more than a dry legal pronouncement — it is a diplomatic milestone in Pakistan’s decades-long efforts to safeguard its lifeline rivers from upstream interference.

In its ruling, the Court declared it has full jurisdiction over Pakistan’s complaint regarding India’s hydropower projects on the Indus system’s Western Rivers — the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — and that India must design such projects strictly in accordance with the treaty’s specifications.

The phrase “strictly” is indeed the heart of the matter. For years, Pakistan has criticized India for bending the rules in the name of “best engineering practices” to exert more control over water flows. The Court has now affirmed that the treaty does not permit such unilateral reinterpretation.

Signed in 1960 with World Bank’s mediation, the IWT divided six rivers between the two countries: three eastern rivers to India and three western ones to Pakistan. While India was allowed limited non-consumptive uses, such as run-of-river hydropower on the Western Rivers, those rights came with clear technical limits on dam designs and........

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