ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is preparing to launch international legal action against India over the latter’s move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, and the country’s apex legal body has formed a committee to assist the government in this regard.

Barrister Aqeel Malik, the minister of state for Law and Justice, told Reuters that the government was working on plans for at least three different legal options, including raising the issue at the World Bank, which is the treaty’s facilitator.

It is also considering taking action at the Permanent Court of Arbitration or at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where it could argue that India has violated the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, he said.

“Legal strategy consultations are almost complete,” Barrister Aqeel said, adding that a decision on which cases to pursue would be made “soon”, and would likely include pursuing more than one avenue.

Barrister Aqeel says issue will be taken up on multiple fronts; SCBA forms body to provide legal assistance in the matter

Indian officials did not immediately respond to a Reuters request seeking comment.

New Delhi had last week held the World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 in abeyance after an attack in the Pahalgam tourist resort in occupied Kashmir, saying the suspension would last until “Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism”.

Islamabad flatly denies any involvement in the attack, and in response to New Delhi’s actions, also suspended all trade and closed its airspace to Indian airlines.

Barrister Aqeel added that a fourth diplomatic option that Islamabad was considering was to raise the issue at the United Nations Security Council.

“All the options are on the table and we are pursuing all appropriate and competent forums to approach,” he told Reuters.

“The treaty cannot be suspended unilaterally and cannot be held in abeyance, there is no provision within the treaty,” said Malik.

Government officials and experts on both sides say India cannot stop water flows immediately because the treaty has allowed it to only build hydropower plants without significant storage or dams on the three rivers allocated to Pakistan.

But things could start changing in a few months and farmers, already hit by climate-change related water shortages, have raised concerns.

SCBA body to assist govt

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has constituted a committee to provide legal assistance to the federal government to help raise the issue of Indus Water Treaty of 1960 at appropriate forums.

The committee will be chaired by its president along with SCBA Secretary Salman Mansoor, Balochistan High Court Bar Association President Mir Attaullah Langove, Sindh High Court Bar Association President Barrister Sarfraz Metlo, as well as Barrister M.H. Subhani and Hafiz Ahsan Khokhar.

In a statement, the country’s apex body of lawyers said it remains steadfast in its role as a watchdog for the protection of fundamental rights, adherence to international treaties and the preservation of national dignity and sovereignty.

Beyond being a formal accord, the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 is essential to Pakistan’s very existence and prosperity.

The treaty, which was mediated by the World Bank, expressly asserts that none of its signatories can unilaterally terminate, withdraw from, or hold it in abeyance, the statement said.

Yet, India has suspended this very treaty in contravention of international laws, the statement said, adding that the association viewed the unilateral suspension of the treaty as an unnecessary move, aimed at disrupting the downstream water flow.

Nasir Iqbal also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2025