India objects to World Bank's appointments on Indus Water Treaty; here is all about the treaty

New Delhi: India reacted to the appointment by World Bank of Mr Michel Lino as
the Neutral Expert and Prof. Sean Murphy appointed as Chairman of the Court of Arbitration in the Indus Water Treaty

The Ministry of External Affairs said, “We have noted the World Bank’s announcement to concurrently appoint a Neutral Expert and a Chair of the Court of Arbitration in the ongoing matter related to the Kishenganga and Ratle projects.

Recognising the World Bank’s admission in its announcement that "carrying out two processes concurrently poses practical and legal challenges”, India will assess the matter.


MEA further said that India believes that the implementation of the Indus Water Treaty must be in the letter and spirit of the Treaty.

The Indus Water treaty between India and Pakistan where the third party, World Bank, continues to mediate and dominate. The Treaty delimits the rights and obligations of India and Pakistan on the use of the respective waters of the Indus River system.

On October 17, 2022, the World Bank took advantage of their mandate and appointed Mr Michel Lino as the Neutral Expert (on request of India). Prof. Sean Murphy has been appointed as Chairman of the Court of Arbitration (At Pakistan's request).

Both the newly appointed negotiator and the arbitrator will carry out their duties independently as subject matter experts. World Bank said they made two separate appointments as India and Pakistan raised their point and objections concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric power plants. 

Sixty-two years after signing the Indus Water treaty between India and Pakistan, it continues to survive despite three wars between India and Pakistan, several differences and many conflicts. 

Pakistan objects to the technical design features of the two hydroelectricity projects saying it is a violation of the treaty while India sticks that it has done no violation and both projects are with the run of the water, allowed under the treaty. 

The disagreement between the two countries continues. Pakistan has approached World Bank to facilitate the establishment of a Court of Arbitration to consider its concerns about the designs of the two hydroelectric power projects, while India asked for the appointment of a Neutral Expert to consider similar concerns over the two projects.

The World Bank said they continue to share the parties' concerns that carrying out the two processes concurrently poses practical and legal challenges. The World Bank is confident that the newly appointed and highly qualified experts as Neutral Experts and as members of the Court of Arbitration will engage in fair and careful consideration of their jurisdictional mandate, as they are empowered to do by the Treaty.

Pakistan has always objected to past Indian projects. 

Several projects in Jammu and Kashmir are affected because Pakistan raises various objections while citing provisions of the Indus waters treaty. India has constantly challenged and reacted. Some past examples are the Tulbal navigation project downstream of river Jhelum, the 690 MW Salal hydropower project and the 450 MW Baghliar hydropower project, Uri I and II etc.  

A permanent Indus water commission was constituted under the provisions of the Treaty, and the differences between the two countries over these projects continue. It is even though the Commission meets at least once a year. In some past projects, suggestions and orders made by arbitrators were implemented by the Indian government. Changes in the design were made as suggested, however, hydroelectricity projects, with the river run (allowed in the Treaty), were completed. 

Why should India follow the Treaty?

Several political observers in India ask why India, after 60 years of the Indus water treaty, should continue to follow the dictate of the mediator World Bank. The answer is the Treaty does not allow a unilateral abrogation even though it is widely believed in India that the Indus Water Treaty is one-sided, bending in favour of Pakistan.

If abolished, legal and international ramifications are not ruled out. Even if India unilaterally decides to end the Treaty, the 1969 Vienna Convention on the law of treaties will be challenged. It can hamper the country's image internationally. 

China will once again be active and heavy on India. China may stop or divert the source the Indus or Sutlej rivers to flow into India. Other neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal may become sceptical about similar treaties with them. It will also hamper India's efforts to achieve a permanent seat in the UNSC.

China, a strategic partner with Pakistan, may threaten to block the water from the Brahmaputra to Assam. It can have drastic and lasting effects on the country and international relations. 

Origins of the Treaty

The Indus River rises in the southwestern Tibet area of China and flows through the Kashmir valley, through mountains and then enters Pakistan, finally sinking into the Arabian sea. 

Indus is joined by numerous tributaries, notably river Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The Indus River system has been used for irrigation since time immemorial. 

Modern irrigation engineering work began about 1850. During British rule in India, large canal systems were constructed, and old canal systems and inundation channels were revived and modernized. 

In 1947 British India was partitioned, resulting in the creation of an independent India and West Pakistan. The water system was also bifurcated. 

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory. 

The Treaty allocates the Western Rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan and the Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India. At the same time, the Treaty allows each country-specific uses of the rivers allocated to the other.

Under the Indus Water Treaty, all the waters of the eastern rivers Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi, amounting to around 33-million-acre feet (MAF) annually, are allocated to India for unrestricted use. The waters of western rivers Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, amounting to around 135 MAF annually, have been assigned mainly to Pakistan.

India is permitted to construct the run of the river plants on western rivers with limited storage per the Treaty's criteria.

How the Treaty works


According to the mediator World Bank, the Treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission, which has a commissioner from each country. 

The Treaty also sets forth distinct procedures to handle issues which may arise: "questions" are regulated by the Commission; "differences" are to be resolved by a Neutral Expert, and "disputes" are to be referred to a seven-member arbitral tribunal called the "Court of Arbitration." 

As a signatory to the Treaty, the World Bank's role is limited and procedural. In particular, its role in "differences" and "disputes" is limited to the designation of individuals to fulfil specific roles in Neutral Expert or Court of Arbitration proceedings when requested by either or both parties.  

The latest bone of contention is disagreement over two hydroelectric power plants. The disagreement between India and Pakistan concerns the design features of the Kishenganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric power plants. 

The plants are located in India on tributaries of the Jhelum and the Chenab Rivers, respectively. The Treaty designates these two rivers and the Indus as the "Western Rivers", with some exceptions to which Pakistan has unrestricted use. Under the Treaty, India can construct hydroelectric power facilities on these rivers, subject to constraints specified in Annexures. 

Different Treaty mechanisms sought by India and Pakistan

According to the World Bank, in 2016, Pakistan asked the World Bank to facilitate the setting up a Court of Arbitration to look into its concerns about the designs of the two hydroelectric power projects. India asked for the appointment of a Neutral
Expert for the same purpose. These requests came after the Permanent Indus
Commission had been engaged in discussions on the matter for a while.

The World Bank sought to fulfil its procedural obligations concerning the Court of Arbitration and the Neutral Expert. The Treaty does not empower the World Bank to decide whether one procedure should take precedence over the other; rather, it vests the determination of jurisdictional competence on each of the two mechanisms. 

Working with India and Pakistan, but no results so far

On December 12, 2016, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced that the World Bank would pause before taking further steps in the two processes requested by the Parties. The announcement by the Bank was taken to protect the Treaty in the interests of both countries.

Since then, the World Bank has worked to seek an amicable resolution. Multiple high-level meetings have been convened and a variety of proposals discussed. However, five years of joint efforts have not yielded a solution. On March 31, 2022, the World Bank decided to resume the process of appointing a Neutral Expert and a Chairman for the Court of Arbitration.

What can India do

India needs to look for alternatives. The Indus Water treaty needs to die its own death once its utility and dependence are reduced, for which India needs to look for other options.

India must slowly reduce its dependence on Indus Water Treaty and look for alternatives. India is already looking for solar and wind energy that will make India less dependent on hydroelectricity. 

Some experts are of the view that if India looks for mechanism to build storage facilities, western river waters can be much better used as it is allowed under the Treaty of up to 3.6 million acre-feet.