India slams Pakistan's 'state-sponsored' misinformation at Asean, says Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance
At a Regional Forum meeting held under the ASEAN framework, India's delegation rejected remarks made by Pakistan's representative on Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty as baseless.
India's Ministry of External Affairs stated that Pakistan was using the multilateral forum to amplify what it termed state-sponsored disinformation.
India reiterated that the Indus Waters Treaty (1960) remains in abeyance, a position it has held since the Pahalgam terror attack, until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably ends its support for cross-border terrorism.
Pakistan has separately contested India's abeyance decision as inconsistent with international law, since the treaty text contains no provision for unilateral suspension.
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) — Institutional Architecture
The ASEAN Regional Forum is the principal multilateral security dialogue platform in the Asia-Pacific, established to promote confidence-building, preventive diplomacy, and conflict resolution among ASEAN members and dialogue partners. It is distinct from the ASEAN grouping itself and from other ASEAN-led mechanisms such as the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).
Key Details
- ARF established in 1994; brings together ASEAN's 10 member states plus dialogue partners including India, the US, China, Russia, Japan, and the EU (27 participants)
- India has been a member of ARF since its inception (1996) alongside becoming an ASEAN dialogue partner
- Distinguished from EAS (established 2005, leaders'-level strategic dialogue) and ADMM-Plus (2010, defence-ministers-level)
- Functions on the principle of consensus and non-interference, typical of the "ASEAN Way" of diplomacy
The dispute unfolded at this ARF ministerial-level meeting, illustrating how bilateral India-Pakistan tensions are increasingly aired at multilateral platforms rather than resolved through bilateral or SAARC-level channels, reflecting the near-total freeze in direct India-Pakistan dialogue mechanisms.
Indus Waters Treaty (1960) — Structure and the "Abeyance" Question
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed on 19 September 1960 between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank, allocating the three "eastern rivers" (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) for India's unrestricted use and the three "western rivers" (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) primarily for Pakistan's use, subject to specified Indian rights (non-consumptive use, limited irrigation, and run-of-river hydropower).
Key Details
- Treaty establishes a three-tier dispute resolution mechanism: "questions" go to the Permanent Indus Commission (one Commissioner per country, meets annually); "differences" go to a Neutral Expert; "disputes" go to a Court of Arbitration — the World Bank's role is limited to appointing these third-party mechanisms, not adjudicating itself
- The treaty text (Article XII) provides only for modification by mutual agreement between the two governments — it contains no explicit unilateral suspension or termination clause, which is the legal basis for Pakistan's objection to India's "abeyance" stance
- India placed the treaty "in abeyance" after the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, citing Pakistan's continued cross-border terrorism; the Ministry of External Affairs has stated this will continue until Pakistan "credibly and irrevocably" ceases such support
- Abeyance in practice has meant India suspending data-sharing and flood-forecast information exchange with Pakistan under the treaty's Permanent Indus Commission mechanism
India's ARF statement reaffirmed the abeyance position amid Pakistan's push to internationalize the treaty dispute (including earlier at the UN Security Council), underscoring that India treats treaty compliance as conditional on Pakistan's counter-terrorism posture rather than a purely technical water-sharing matter.
Disinformation and Diplomacy at Multilateral Forums
Modern inter-state disputes increasingly play out through competing narratives at multilateral platforms (UNSC, UNGA, ARF, SCO), where states use procedural speaking slots to make political statements for international audiences — a practice states characterize variously as advocacy or as "disinformation," depending on their position.
Key Details
- India has previously used the UN Security Council platform to rebut similar Pakistani statements on the Indus Waters Treaty
- The distinction between a "dispute" (factual disagreement) and "disinformation" (deliberately false claims) is a recurring theme in India's official statements on Pakistan-related issues at international bodies
- Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is India's nodal ministry for coordinating official positions and rebuttals delivered at such forums
The ARF episode is part of a pattern of India-Pakistan contestation being relocated from bilateral/SAARC channels to broader multilateral stages, testing candidates on both the substantive IWT provisions and the evolving forums of India-Pakistan diplomatic engagement.
- Indus Waters Treaty signed: 19 September 1960, brokered by the World Bank
- Rivers allocated to India (eastern): Ravi, Beas, Sutlej; to Pakistan (primary use, western): Indus, Jhelum, Chenab
- Treaty dispute-resolution tiers: Permanent Indus Commission (questions) → Neutral Expert (differences) → Court of Arbitration (disputes)
- India placed treaty in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attack (April 2025)
- ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF): established 1994; India a member since 1996; 27 total participants including ASEAN's 10 members
- Treaty contains no explicit unilateral suspension clause — Article XII allows modification only by mutual agreement