Day 378: Pakistan Foreign Office Reaffirms IWT Legal Position After India's PCA Award Rejection

On May 23, 2026 — Day 378 of the ceasefire — Pakistan Today published an analysis titled 'Indus Water Treaty Strained Again as India Rejects Award,' following Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Andrabi's formal reaffirmation that Islamabad would guard its rights under the Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan's FO reiterated its position that the Permanent Court of Arbitration's May 15, 2026 supplemental award on maximum pondage limits at the Ratle and Kishanganga projects is legally binding, and that India's May 16 rejection of the award as 'null and void' — on grounds that the court is 'illegally constituted' — itself constitutes a violation of India's international legal obligations. Pakistan had escalated the IWT dispute to the UN Security Council on April 24, 2026, one year after India's suspension of the treaty. The legal standoff deepens the most complex dimension of the post-Sindoor bilateral freeze. No kinetic incidents were reported on the Line of Control on May 23; the ceasefire continues to hold. Pakistan's airspace ban on Indian aircraft remains in force through June 23/24 per the May 19 NOTAM; India's reciprocal ban on Pakistani aircraft was approaching its May 24 expiry date.