Kashmir’s Erasure from International Law
David Lilienthal and the Forgotten Pre-History of the Indus Waters Treaty (1948–1951)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12627112 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rishabh Bajoria (PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge https://dx.doi.org/2152 Cambridge United Kingdom, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 356-396 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-03 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d’histoire du droit international (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1388-199X • E-ISSN: 1571-8050 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15718050-bja10134 |
| OpenAlex | W4414918643 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
From East Timor to Palestine, political erasures flowing from the legal concepts of self-determination and permanent (state) sovereignty over natural resources remain enduring sites of struggle. This article traces how international law produced such an erasure in Kashmir through a pre-history of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty. David Lilienthal, famous as the architect of the Tennessee Valley Authority, argued that harnessing the Indus waters for India and Pakistan’s postcolonial development required setting aside Kashmiri demands for self-determination. International law had to transform the waters into common property owned by India and Pakistan and protect their economic value from popular politics. Adjudication of the water dispute was dismissed because a public legal argumentative battle would inflame controversy. Instead, disputes needed to be solved by international law. This pre-history of the Treaty cuts against celebratory narratives of the water-sharing arrangement by showing what lies beneath the surface of a seemingly successful treaty regime
Adjudication · Aside · Comity · International law · Nexus (standard · Politics · Sovereign immunity · Sovereignty · Treaty · Value (mathematics · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Conflicts
| Highly cited | No |
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