Foreign news
Infrastructure For Tomorrow: Interview With AIIB Vice President On Response To Future Challenges
In the five years since it was founded, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved more than 20 billion dollars of financing for over 100 projects. Last year, the bank set up a COVID-19 crisis recovery facility, offering loans of up to 13 billion U.S. dollars. Our reporter Feng Yilei talked with its vice president, Sir Danny Alexander, to find out more about the bank’s strategies and response to the global crisis.
SIR DANNY ALEXANDER AIIB Vice President and Corporate Secretary “And obviously, this year, for many of our members, the focus is shifting to vaccine and mass vaccination campaigns. And that’s particular Challenge, particularly in developing countries.”
FENG YILEI CGTN Reporter “Some say, compared to your counterparts, including the World Bank and ADB you’re not doing enough in terms of such medical aid. So what exact role can we expect the AIIB to play?”
SIR DANNY ALEXANDER Vice President and Corporate Secretary “We will operate in a way very much in coordination with our multilateral peers, like the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, in coordination with the global vaccination organizations. But more broadly, we see there’s a need for a continuing major focus beyond the pandemic on upgrading health and social infrastructure. If populations aren’t healthy, economies cannot function. That’s one of the most obvious lessons of the period of the last year or so.”
FENG YILEI CGTN Reporter “So in that case, how will you reallocate and rebalance your resources and efforts to make sure the new strategy will both pay off in short term and long run?”
SIR DANNY ALEXANDER AIIB Vice President and Corporate Secretary “I think as countries shift from the immediate pandemic response to thinking about both the immediate and long term economic recovery, which you’re right to say that they need to have, then infrastructure will be a key focus in many of those places.
“And in a sense, the contribution that multilateral development banks can make through our investments is to demonstrate through the projects we invest in, that there is both a short term and a long term benefit to the kind of infrastructure for tomorrow that we know our members will need. So we’ve invested, for example, in solar power in Egypt and Kazakhstan and other places. We’ve invested in a number of members to support telecommunications infrastructure in Oman and Cambodia. And these investments help to ensure that countries have the systems that they need to respond effectively to crisis, to communicate with people, to enable businesses to function.
“I think what you see increasingly is that the application of technology to traditional infrastructure also helps to get much better value, much better use out of that infrastructure.”
FENG YILEI CGTN Reporter “As you’re going to leverage more international capital, you’re going to attract more private investors and commercial banks which we think, are not on the common ground with MDBs. So in that case, how will you ensure that they can get a considerable return from the cooperation with MDBs?”
SIR DANNY ALEXANDER AIIB Vice President and Corporate Secretary “We have to find ways to attract private capital into our projects, also to apply our capital in a way that can support private sector development and multilateral bring a number of features that help to crowd in more private sector money to projects. You can see from a range of AIIB projects, the way in which we’ve already taken steps in projects which help to bring private capital in through equity investments and green funds, for example, will help to mobilize much more private capital into clean energy, for example, in the coming years.”
Foreign news
Court of Arbitration Declares Indus Waters Treaty Fully Operational Rejects India’s ‘Abeyance’
Cyril Ogar
The Court of Arbitration has unanimously reaffirmed that the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) remains fully in force, ruling that India cannot unilaterally place the 1960 agreement in “abeyance” or suspend its obligations under the treaty.
The decision represents a significant legal development in the longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan over the management and use of the Indus river system.
The Court’s finding addresses a fundamental issue at the heart of the dispute: whether either party can unilaterally suspend the treaty outside the legal framework agreed by both countries.
In its unanimous determination, the Court made clear that the IWT continues to bind both India and Pakistan and that its obligations cannot be set aside through a unilateral political declaration.
The ruling means India remains subject to the treaty provisions governing the use of the Western Rivers, including requirements relating to the design and operation of hydroelectric projects, as well as the dispute-resolution mechanisms established under the agreement.
The Court has also ordered interim measures concerning the Ratle Hydroelectric Plant, restricting specified construction activities while the broader dispute remains under consideration.
The measures are aimed at preserving the effectiveness of the arbitration process and preventing developments that could prejudice the outcome of the proceedings.
For Pakistan, the decision represents significant legal validation of its longstanding position that the IWT is a binding international agreement and contains no provision allowing either party to unilaterally place it in abeyance.
Pakistan has consistently maintained that disagreements over the treaty should be addressed through the institutional mechanisms established by the agreement, rather than through unilateral action.
The IWT provides a structured framework for resolving disputes through mechanisms including the Permanent Indus Commission, Neutral Expert and Court of Arbitration processes.
The latest ruling therefore reinforces the principle that treaty obligations cannot simply be disregarded because of deteriorating political relations between signatories.
The significance of the decision extends beyond the India-Pakistan dispute. It underscores the broader international-law principle that agreements governing shared rivers and other transboundary resources must be respected and disputes resolved through established legal and institutional channels.
The Indus river system supports agriculture, livelihoods, food security and communities across the region, making the stability of the treaty particularly important.
The ruling also highlights the distinction between seeking to amend an international agreement through mutually agreed procedures and attempting to alter its obligations unilaterally.
The IWT has endured wars, prolonged diplomatic tensions and periods of limited bilateral engagement. Its continued operation demonstrates the importance of rules-based mechanisms in managing shared resources when relations between neighbouring states become strained.
For Pakistan, the outcome provides an opportunity to frame the decision not merely as a bilateral legal victory, but as an affirmation of international law, treaty compliance and peaceful dispute resolution.
The central message from the ruling is clear: the Indus Waters Treaty remains in force, its obligations continue to bind both parties, and disputes concerning shared waters must be addressed through the legal mechanisms agreed by India and Pakistan.
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