Demonstrating unyielding national resolve, India delivered a robust diplomatic rebuff to Pakistan on Tuesday, exposing Islamabad's persistent reliance on manufacturing falsehoods and distorting facts regarding the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal issued a resolute statement during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, decisively puncturing Islamabad's claims surrounding an alleged pronouncement by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Jaiswal stated that Pakistan has a habit of misrepresenting facts and propagating falsehoods to serve its malicious propaganda.

He clarified that, for starters, the so-called ruling is not a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, as sought to be projected by the Pakistani minister.

He emphasised that it is a ruling by an illegally constituted court and that India sees this as just one more attempt by Pakistan to distort reality.

He added that India's position on this issue is very clear and has been reiterated several times.

This firm stance builds upon New Delhi's decisive rejection last month of an unauthorised "award" issued by a flawed arbitration panel concerning interim measures under the water pact.

Rejecting the so-called "award", the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the so-called "Court of Arbitration" was set up by the World Bank in patent breach of the terms of the treaty.

On August 31, the MEA stated that the illegally constituted so-called Court of Arbitration (CoA) issued what it termed as an award concerning Interim Measures and Status of the Indus Waters Treaty.

The MEA noted that this so-called Court was constituted by the World Bank in patent breach of the terms of the Treaty.

India categorically rejected its so-called award, just as it has firmly rejected all prior pronouncements by this illegally constituted body.

Reiterating its unyielding legal posture, the MEA underscored that India has never recognised the existence in law of "the illegally-constituted and so-called Court of Arbitration".

India has consistently maintained that the creation of this alleged arbitral body constitutes a grave violation of the IWT. Accordingly, India has never appeared before this body and has refused to take any cognisance of its earlier pronouncements.

The MEA mentioned that this so-called Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction whatsoever to pronounce on India’s sovereign decisions.

Its pronouncements, now or in the future, will have no effect on India’s actions in connection with the projects being undertaken by India.

Furthermore, New Delhi reaffirmed that the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty remains in force.

The water-sharing accord was signed between India and Pakistan on September 19, 1960, concerning the utilisation of the waters of the Indus system rivers.

In the wake of last year's heinous Pahalgam terror attack, India exercised its rights as a sovereign nation under international law and placed IWT in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had earlier reiterated India's consistent stance on the IWT in June, making it categorically clear that bilateral cooperation remains suspended until cross-border terror completely stops.

Jaiswal had stated that India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and kept it in abeyance until Pakistan completely stops cross-border terrorism.

The long-standing disputes between the two nations over hydro-electric infrastructure, such as the Kishanganga and Ratle projects on the western rivers, have consistently been met with unilateral manoeuvres from Islamabad.

India has maintained that all differences should be addressed through the graded mechanism laid out in the treaty itself, specifically through the Neutral Expert process rather than parallel court proceedings.

New Delhi’s firm stance reinforces its broader security posture, ensuring that sovereign interests and national defence remain non-negotiable in the face of persistent external provocations.

ANI