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The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague rejected on Thursday India's objections to a Pakistan-initiated procedure over water use in the Indus River basin, reopening a procedure that had been blocked for many years.

India called the arbitration proceeding illegal as a neutral expert was also looking at the issue and the World Bank-brokered treaty prohibits parallel proceedings.

The South Asian neighbours have been arguing over hydroelectric projects on the shared Indus River and its tributaries for decades, with Pakistan complaining that India's planned hydropower dams in upstream areas will cut flows on the river which feeds 80% of its irrigated agriculture.

To resolve the dispute, Pakistan sought resolution through PCA arbitration proceedings in 2016, prompting India to request that the World Bank appoint a neutral expert under the terms of the treaty. India has boycotted The Hague court proceedings and questioned the competence of the court.

"In a unanimous decision, which is binding on the Parties and without appeal, the Court rejected each of the objections raised by India and determined that the Court is competent to consider and determine the disputes set forth in Pakistan's Request for Arbitration," the court said in a statement.

It gave no details on when and how the case will continue, but added that it will address the interpretation and application of the bilateral Indus Water Treaty, notably the provisions on hydro-electric projects, as well as the legal effect of past decisions of dispute resolution bodies under the Treaty.

A spokesperson for India's foreign ministry, Arindam Bagchi, said India's "consistent and principled position has been that the constitution of this so-called court of arbitration is in contravention of the clear letter and spirit of the Indus Water Treaty".

He said India was participating in the proceedings of the neutral expert, which he called "the only treaty-consistent proceedings at this juncture".

"Legal sophistry" will not compel India to participate in the proceedings of the PCA, Bagchi said.

India says the construction of its Kishanganga and Ratle Hydro Electric projects is allowed by the treaty.

Pakistan's Foreign Office said that it remained fully committed to the implementation of the Indus Water Treaty and its settlement mechanism, which it termed a "foundational agreement" between the two countries.

"We hope that India would also implement the Treaty in good faith," Foreign Office spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement on Thursday night. (Reuters)

Japan lodged a protest with South Korea over military drills it conducted on disputed islands, saying it was "extremely regrettable", the foreign ministry said in a statement issued on Friday.

The foreign ministry said it summoned a senior diplomat at the South Korean embassy in Tokyo, and the Japanese embassy in Seoul also summoned a senior South Korea official to make the protest.

"Takeshima is indisputably an inherent territory of Japan, in light of historical facts and based on international law," the ministry said in the statement.

"The drills by the South Korean military are unacceptable and extremely regrettable."

The two nations have long been at loggerheads over the sovereignty of the group of islets called Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea, which lie about halfway between the East Asian neighbours in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

"The East Sea territory defence exercise was carried out to conduct our mission to protect our territory, people and property," a South Korean military official said.

The South Korean military has conducted the military drill routinely every year, the official added. (Reuters)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will join NATO leaders in Lithuania on Tuesday to remind an alliance focused on Ukraine to pay heed to Chinese and Russian activity in Asia, which Japan sees as a threat to global security.

Kishida’s second visit to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization gathering, along with the leaders of South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, comes as Japan doubles defence spending to deter Chinese and Russian forces in the waters and skies around Japan.

With Japan feeling it can no longer solely rely on its old ally the U.S. to back it up, Kishida is also courting new security partners.

"Japan talks about principles such as territorial integrity, but the message to Europe is 'don’t forget about the Indo-Pacific, no matter how difficult the situation with Russia is'," said Michito Tsuruoka, a NATO expert at Keio University.

In its most recent annual national security assessment, Japan said it was surrounded by nuclear-armed actors, including China, North Korea and Russia, which is also a neighbour to six NATO members. Tokyo worries about getting sucked into a conflict over Taiwan, which is only 100 km (62 miles) away.

Kishida, who has embraced the U.S. rhetoric of "like-minded nations" sticking together, has for the past year warned that a Ukraine-like conflict, which Russia describes as a special operation, could erupt in East Asia if China tries to take control of self-ruled Taiwan. China has criticised Japan for a "Cold War mentality".

By working with NATO, Japan could also help the U.S. knit its global alliances together, "breaking down the traditional silos between America's Atlantic allies and America's Pacific allies", the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, told a media briefing. 

"We find ourselves coming together to address a whole range of options," she said.

'BIG MISTAKE'

At the meeting in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, Japan is expected to be included in NATO's Individually Tailored Partnership Program, opening the way for cooperation on cyber security, space and information sharing on China and Russia.

That initiative follows a visit to Japan by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in January when he said the lessons China was learning from Ukraine could influence its decisions.

NATO documents have begun to reflect concern about China, East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, but Japan needs to deepen its awareness of those issues, a Japanese official involved in discussions about NATO ties said.

However, the military alliance is unlikely to agree to open an office in Tokyo in the face of French President Emmanuel Macron's opposition to a move that could irritate China and open NATO up to accusations of geographical overreach.

"If we push NATO's presence in the Indo-Pacific area and expand its reach, we will be making a big mistake," a French foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Diplomats from two European NATO countries who spoke to Reuters said European unease about a Tokyo office went beyond France. They declined to be identified.

Another Japanese official involved in preparations for Kishida's NATO visit said the idea of a NATO office in Japan had nothing to do with China, but that is how it became framed, and each NATO country has its own relations with China.

Japan, he added, would continue communicating with NATO through its embassy in Brussels or via the Danish embassy in Tokyo, the contact point in Japan for dealings with the military alliance.

SEOUL AND SYDNEY

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who will also attend the NATO summit, is also looking to deepen relations in Europe including new defence deals with countries like Poland.

Under Yoon, South Korea has set up a liaison office with NATO in Brussels and has embraced a call for unity among like-minded countries. He may, however, face renewed pressure to provide weapons to Ukraine, which his administration has declined to do, wary of Russian influence over North Korea.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, another member of Asia Pacific Four invited to the NATO gathering, said Australia would maintain support for Ukraine, when asked about new financial aid for it.

"We’ll continue to stand with the people of Ukraine," Albanese told Sky News. (Reuters)

The Philippine military on Friday reported an "alarming" increase in the number of Chinese fishing vessels in disputed waters in the South China Sea, which it said threatens the security of the oil and gas-rich Reed Bank.

From only a dozen in February, the number of Chinese fishing vessels "swarming" in Iroquois reef, just south of the Reed Bank, has risen to 47 as of last month, according to the military's Western Command (WESCOM).

"China must cease its swarming of vessels to respect our sovereign rights," Ariel Coloma, spokesperson for the Western Command, said in a statement.

The Philippines won a landmark arbitration case in 2016 that invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea, where about $3 trillion worth of sea-borne goods pass every year.

The ruling, which treaty ally United States backs and China refuses to recognise, clarified Philippine sovereign rights in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to access offshore oil and gas fields, including the Reed Bank, where a natural gas exploration project operated by Philippine firm PXP Energy Corp has been stalled.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Philippine counterpart, Gilbert Teodoro, on Thursday that the U.S. commitment to the defense of its ally was "ironclad," including in the South China Sea, according to a U.S. summary of the call, drawing a rebuke from China.

"The U.S. defence commitment to the Philippines must not undermine China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular press conference.

Wang accused the United States of "sowing discord" between countries in the region, while maintaining the actions of the Chinese Coast Guard were legitimate and lawful, and therefore "beyond reproach".

Wang was not asked about the "swarming," and there was no immediate comment from the Chinese embassy in Manila about it.

Philippine military said their flights had also recorded the presence of three China Coast Guard ships and two Chinese navy vessels "regularly loitering" at Sabina Shoal, which like Iroquois, is inside the Philippine EEZ.

"These developments raise alarming concerns about China's intentions and actions within these disputed waters," WESCOM said.

The Philippines on Wednesday accused the China Coast Guard of harassment, obstruction and "dangerous manoeuvres" against its vessels, after another incident near a strategic feature of the South China Sea. (Reuters)