Court of Arbitration (CoA)
Context:
India on Saturday rejected an award reportedly issued by the Court of Arbitration (CoA) at The Hague on May 15th, 2026, reiterating that it does not recognise the tribunal as legitimately constituted
“India categorically re jects the present so-called award, just as it has rmly rejected all prior pronoun cements of the illegally constituted CoA.
Thus India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, remained in force.
Court of Arbitration (CoA):
Permanent Court of Arbitration, which acts as the secretariat to the CoA.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an international institution that conducts or facilitates the resolution of disputes through arbitration, mediation, conciliation, and other means of dispute resolution between states, state organisations, and investors.
The Permalent Court of Arbitration was established by the 1899 Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes (the "1899 Convention").
The PCA was established in 1900, and it started functioning in 1902. It was situated at the Peace Palace in the Netherlands.
Distinguishing feature of PCA was that, PCA did not force its jurisdiction upon the contracting parties and kept it rather flexible for parties to choose PCA as a neutral third party administrator or facilitator.
Permanent Court of Arbitration comprises a three-part structure consisting of the Administrative Council, Members of the Court, and the International Bureau.
Administrative Council, which frames the policies of PCA, consists of the diplomatic representatives of the contracting parties.
Each member country is required to nominate up to four persons in Members of the Court and these members are appointed for a period of six years, subject to renewal by PCA.
India and PCA:
India ratified the 1899 Hague Convention in 1950 and is contracting party to the 1899 Convention.
For India, the working languages of the PCA are English and French.
Indus Waters Treaty Arbitration (2013)
The treaty was a PCA-led arbitration between India and Pakistan on Indus waters.
It laid down that the river waters shall be used for purposes of domestic use, non-consumptive use, agricultural use, and the generation of hydro-electric power by both states.
India had two hydroelectric power projects:
Kishanganga project on the tributary of the Jhelum River
Ratle project on the Chenab River
Core issue:
For the development of these projects, India proposed to modify the terms of the IWT, since that was allowed under the Treaty, which pakistan did not agreed.
Pakistan’s Objection:
design features of these projects, arguing that the pondage (storage) and spillways violate the IWT and will adversely affect the flow of water into its territory.
India’s Objection to the CoA:
The core of the legal dispute lies in Pakistan's insistence on bypassing the Neutral Expert mechanism.
In 2016, Pakistan requested the World Bank to appoint a CoA, while India simultaneously requested a Neutral Expert to look into the technical designs.
Violation of the Graded Mechanism: India argues that initiating two simultaneous processes (Neutral Expert and CoA) for the exact same dispute violates the sequential, graded dispute resolution mechanism mandated by the treaty.