In April 2025, after a terror attack at Pahalgam in Kashmir, **India** said it was holding the treaty in abeyance. The catch is the map: the western rivers pass through Indian-held Kashmir before they reach **Pakistan**. India is building dams there, like the Ratle project on the **Chenab**. Downstream, the Indus basin waters most of Pakistan's farmland. After the 22 April 2025 Pahalgam attack, India announced on 23 April that it would hold the Indus Waters Treaty "in abeyance"; the western rivers flow through Indian-administered Kashmir before entering Pakistan, where the Indus basin irrigates most (about 80%, by Pakistani estimates) of the country's farmland.

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The Hague and the Indus

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The Hague and the Indus

A court in The Hague has ruled that the treaty splitting the Indus rivers still stands — but the rivers run through India first, and India says the treaty is on hold.

3 steps · 1 min · 7 sources · updated 2026-09-28

Six rivers, one treaty

The six rivers of the Indus system rise in the mountains and flow down into Pakistan. In 1960 India and Pakistan split them: the three eastern rivers to India, the three western ones to Pakistan. That left Pakistan about 80% of the water. The treaty survived three wars between them.

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The Hague and the Indus

A court in The Hague has ruled that the treaty splitting the Indus rivers still stands — but the rivers run through India first, and India says the treaty is on hold.

Six rivers, one treaty

The six rivers of the **Indus** system rise in the mountains and flow down into **Pakistan**. In 1960 **India** and Pakistan split them: the three eastern rivers to India, the three western ones to Pakistan. That left Pakistan about 80% of the water. The treaty survived three wars between them.

Claim (consensus): The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank, allocated the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India and the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan — roughly 80% of the system's flow — and it survived the wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999.

Upstream

In April 2025, after a terror attack at Pahalgam in Kashmir, **India** said it was holding the treaty in abeyance. The catch is the map: the western rivers pass through Indian-held Kashmir before they reach **Pakistan**. India is building dams there, like the Ratle project on the **Chenab**. Downstream, the Indus basin waters most of Pakistan's farmland.

Claim (consensus): After the 22 April 2025 Pahalgam attack, India announced on 23 April that it would hold the Indus Waters Treaty "in abeyance"; the western rivers flow through Indian-administered Kashmir before entering Pakistan, where the Indus basin irrigates most (about 80%, by Pakistani estimates) of the country's farmland.

The court and the river

On 31 August 2026 a Court of Arbitration in The Hague, in the **Netherlands**, ruled unanimously that the treaty is still fully in force. It also ordered **India** to hold off on parts of the Ratle dam until an expert rules on its design, expected in 2027. India rejected the award the same day, calling it a so-called court. A court can rule on paper, but the rivers still run downhill through India first.

Claim (consensus): On 31 August 2026 the Court of Arbitration (PCA Case 2023-01) unanimously held that the Indus Waters Treaty "remains fully in force and binding" and issued an interim order restricting parts of the Ratle works pending the Neutral Expert's decision; India's Ministry of External Affairs rejected the award the same day.

The Hague and the Indus

The Hague and the Indus

Six rivers, one treaty

Upstream

The court and the river

Sources