ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Pakistan has welcomed the Court of Arbitration’s Supplemental Award Concerning Maximum Pondage, handed down on 15 May 2026, in the Indus Waters Treaty proceedings arising from the Ratle Hydroelectric Plant and the Kishenganga Hydroelectric Project design disputes.
In a post on X, the Government of Pakistan noted with utmost satisfaction the Court of Arbitration’s Supplemental Award.
“The Award affirms Pakistan’s central position that the Treaty places substantive limits on India’s water-control capability on the Western Rivers. These limits are not formalities. They apply at the planning and design stage and cannot be satisfied merely by a later assurance of operational restraint.”
It said pondage for a Run-of-River Plant must be justified by real project needs, actual expected operation, site hydrology, hydraulic conditions, power-system requirements, and the information and explanation required under the Treaty.
“Building on the Court’s General Issues Award of 8 August 2025, the Supplemental Award gives practical effect to the standard that installed capacity and anticipated load must be realistic, well-founded and defensible. Installed capacity must correspond to actual expected operation, hydrologic and hydraulic data, and Treaty requirements. Anticipated load must correspond to actual expected operation and to the projected needs of the power system the plant is intended to serve.”
Pakistan said this addresses a core Treaty concern. “India cannot justify increased Pondage through imagined capacity, artificial load curves, unrealistic peaking assumptions, or bare assertions of compliance with Paragraph 15 release limits. Paragraph 15 remains an operational constraint, but it is not a substitute for an evidence-based justification of the water-control capacity sought. Any different operating pattern must be supported by specific information and underlying data produced by India.”
Pakistan said the Award also strengthened Pakistan’s review rights. “India must provide Pakistan with sufficient information and explanation to assess Treaty compliance. If India fails to do so, it fails to carry its burden of establishing that the proposed maximum Pondage satisfies Paragraph 8(c) of Annexure D.”
The Court of Arbitration further confirmed that any applicable minimum-flow obligation must be taken into account in calculating Pondage required for Firm Power where such obligation exists and is not otherwise satisfied, the statement said and added that paragraph 15 release requirements do not automatically satisfy such an obligation.
Pakistan also noted the Court’s earlier holding that the awards of a Court of Arbitration are final and binding on the parties and have otherwise controlling legal effect for subsequent Treaty bodies on relevant questions of Treaty interpretation.
Pakistan to protect its rights under IWT
“Pakistan will place these interpretations before the Neutral Expert process, consistent with Treaty procedures and applicable confidentiality arrangements. Pakistan remains committed to the Indus Waters Treaty, its dispute-resolution procedures, and the peaceful settlement of water-related differences. Pakistan will continue to protect its rights under the IWT and will pursue every lawful and diplomatic means to ensure that hydroelectric projects on the Western Rivers are designed and operated strictly within Treaty limits.”
The Award is a strategic consolidation of Pakistan’s Treaty position: maximum Pondage must be realistic, evidence-based, hydrologically grounded, power-system justified, Treaty-compliant, and incapable of inflation through artificial assumptions, the statement concluded.
