India snubs Pakistan on Indus Treaty 'ruling'; MEA says Court of Arbitration lacks legality, legitimacy

India has rejected the ‘ruling’ by so-called Court of Arbitration on the Indus Waters Treaty issue. In a press conference in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India has never accepted the legality, legitimacy, or competence of the so-called Court of Arbitration. Its pronouncements are therefore without jurisdiction, devoid of legal standing, and have no bearing on India’s rights of utilisation of waters.”

The remarks came a day after Pakistan asked India to ‘resume’ Indus Waters Treaty. Islamabad urged New Delhi to 'immediately' resume the Indus Waters Treaty following the Court of Arbitration's ruling. The order had stated that India must “let flow” the waters of the western rivers for Pakistan’s unrestricted use. "India also categorically rejects Pakistan’s selective and misleading references to the so-called “award”," the MEA also added.

"As reiterated in our press release of 27 June 2025, the Indus Waters Treaty stands in abeyance by a sovereign decision of the Government of India, taken in response to Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism, including the barbaric Pahalgam attack," Jaiswal further said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reiterated his stance that “terror and dialogue cannot go hand in hand; water and blood cannot flow together.”

He asserted, “We will not distinguish between terrorists and those who sponsor them. The very forces in Pakistan that nurture terrorism will one day lead to its own downfall.”

The Prime Minister noted that, rather than joining India in combating terrorism, Pakistan targeted schools, colleges, places of worship, and military bases. “Yet, the world witnessed how their drones and missiles were neutralised by our air defence. While they attempted to breach our borders, we struck directly at their foundations,” he said.