ISLAMABAD: United Nations Special Rapporteurs and independent experts have concluded that India’s use of military force inside Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack violated international law and undermined the right to life and security. They stated that India’s action lacked any lawful self-defence basis and increased the risk of a wider regional confrontation. The report prepared by October 16 was released publicly on December 15. It recalls that the April 22 assault in Pahalgam killed 26 civilians and triggered a sharp escalation. The experts said accountability was needed for the attack, but India has not provided evidence linking it to Pakistani state involvement, even though that allegation was used to justify military retaliation. The UN experts said international law recognises no separate right to use unilateral military force for counter terrorism purposes. They also noted that India did not formally notify the UN Security Council of any claimed self-defence action under Article 51 of the UN Charter, which is a procedural obligation. According to the report, the May 7 strikes caused civilian harm by hitting populated areas and damaging religious sites, including mosques. The experts said this raised grave concerns regarding the protection of life, civilian infrastructure and religious property. The experts cautioned that India’s conduct amounted to a serious violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. They said that if the strikes were considered an armed attack, Pakistan would retain the right to self-defence. They warned that unilateral military action without legal justification increased the risk of escalation between two nuclear-armed neighbours. The report also raised concern over India’s announcement to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. It said that obstruction or uncertainty in river flows can affect the rights of millions of Pakistanis, including access to water, food, livelihoods, health, and environmental security. The report called India’s phrasing of the treaty being “held in abeyance” ambiguous and said New Delhi had not clearly invoked provisions for suspension under treaty law. The report described any unilateral suspension as unlawful because it bypasses established procedures. According to the report, the disputes (between Pakistan and India) should be handled through the settlement mechanisms in the treaty. It described India’s references to material breach and alleged cross-border terrorism as legally weak grounds for suspension, saying Pakistan had not been shown to have violated any treaty clause. The experts said a fundamental change of circumstances requires a strict legal threshold and that population or energy demands alone do not meet it. They added that India had not presented evidence to justify countermeasures and argued that restricting water flows or suspending the treaty would be a disproportionate step affecting Pakistani civilians. The report said that countermeasures do not remove human-rights obligations and would require notice, negotiation, and completion of legal steps. The experts said such measures are temporary and reversible and do not justify permanent suspension or termination. The experts attributed responsibility for deterioration in treaty engagement to India, noting that annual meetings of the Indus Commission have not taken place since 2022 and citing obstacles in data exchange and disagreements over settlement clauses as contrary to the treaty’s intent. However, in a statement released by the President’s Secretariat, President Asif Ali Zardari welcomed the report, saying it reinforces Pakistan’s long-standing position that the unilateral use of force across international borders constitutes a violation of the United Nations Charter and a grave breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty. Addressing the report’s assessment of violations of the Indus Waters Treaty, the president said bypassing agreed dispute-resolution mechanisms and actions affecting water flows violated Pakistan’s rights and risked creating serious human rights consequences. The President expressed concern that the report clearly demonstrated India’s irresponsible behaviour. “India has long stonewalled its minorities and ignored its commitments to international forums such as the United Nations, but this pattern of rogue behaviour cannot continue indefinitely,” he said, emphasising that such conduct could not be allowed to persist. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025