Pakistan Foots India's PCA Legal Bill Over Indus Waters Treaty

Pakistan is now paying for both sides of a legal fight India refuses to attend. Since 2023, India has boycotted Pakistan-initiated proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration over the Indus Waters Treaty, objecting to a Neutral Expert process running in parallel. That boycott hardened further after the Pahalgam terror attack, when New Delhi froze broader engagement with the treaty altogether. Court costs are typically split evenly, roughly $300,000 per side. With India absent, Pakistan has covered both shares just to keep the case moving, pushing its total bill past $600,000. The dilemma for Islamabad is stark: stop paying and the arbitration collapses, ending the challenge it fought to bring. Keep paying, and it's funding an empty chair while absorbing costs it can ill afford domestically. The IWT has outlasted wars and diplomatic freezes for over six decades. This standoff — one party litigating alone, against a treaty partner that won't show up — is a different kind of test. #IndusWatersTreaty #IndiaPakistan #WaterDiplomacy #SouthAsia #PCA #Geopolitics