Islamabad (TDI): Pakistan is preparing to launch international legal action against India over the New Delhi’s move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, and the country’s apex legal body has formed a committee to assist the government in this regard.
Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik said that the government was working on plans for at least three different legal options, including raising the issue at the World Bank, which is the treaty’s facilitator, according to Reuters.
He said that Islamabad is also considering taking action at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, where it could argue that New Delhi has breached the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.
India had last week suspended the World Bank-mediated Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 after Pahalgam attack in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), levelling false allegations against Pakistan.
Read More: Can India Really Pull Out of Indus Water Treaty?
Pakistan has rejected the allegations of involvement in the attack, and in response to New Delhi’s actions, also suspended all trade and closed its airspace to Indian airlines.
Barrister Aqeel said that a fourth diplomatic option that Pakistan was mulling over was to raise the issue at the United Nations Security Council.
Read More: Pakistan Halts Trade, Bans Indian Flights Amid Rising Tensions
He said that all the options are on the table and Islamabad is pursuing all appropriate and competent forums to approach.
He added that the treaty cannot be held at abeyance unilaterally and there is no such provision within the treaty.
