ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has secured a significant procedural gain in its long-running Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) dispute with India, after a Court of Arbitration directed New Delhi to disclose key operational data from two contested hydropower projects.
In a 13-page procedural order issued under the 1960 IWT, the court instructed India to submit operational logbooks—known as “pondage logbooks”—from the Baglihar and Kishanganga hydropower plants by February 9, 2026, or formally justify any refusal.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has been asked to specify the precise documents it is seeking by February 2. A hearing in the second phase of proceedings on the merits is scheduled for February 2–3 in The Hague and will proceed regardless of whether India participates.
A high-level Pakistani delegation, led by the attorney general and including the Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters, is set to travel to The Hague on Saturday. Pakistan’s international legal team and its ambassador to the Netherlands will also attend.
Islamabad has long argued that India has exploited the IWT’s hydropower provisions by overstating installed capacity and projected electricity demand to justify excessive water storage—moves Pakistan says threaten its water security.
The court agreed that the requested operational records are directly relevant and material to the dispute, particularly in assessing how installed capacity and anticipated load should be calculated to determine maximum permissible pondage under the treaty.
Pakistan has signalled it may seek interim measures to safeguard its treaty rights and prevent actions that could further aggravate the dispute. While the court did not rule on interim relief at this stage, it clarified that only a Court of Arbitration—not a Neutral Expert—has the authority to grant such measures.
Legal experts say the order represents an important procedural victory for Pakistan, reinforcing its argument that actual hydropower operations, rather than theoretical design claims, are crucial in determining compliance with the Indus Waters Treaty.
