War or Peace on the Rivers of South Asia?

Abstract

The renowned water expert, John Briscoe, predicted a bleak future for India-Pakistan water relations across the Indus attributing it to Pakistan’s downstream anxieties vis-à-vis upstream regional hegemon-India. Do the other co-riparian states of India share the same bleak future across the South Asian rivers of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna or are the water relations across these rivers peaceful as compared to the Indus? To answer this question, this study first explores India-Pakistan water disputes on the Indus and then analyses India-Bangladesh water disputes on the Ganges and Brahmaputra, India-Nepal, India-Bhutan, and Pakistan-Afghanistan water relations. The methodology adopted for this study is descriptive, historical, and analytical in its nature. The study concludes that India has not only failed to adopt a conciliatory approach towards Pakistan on the Indus but has generated mistrust amongst other neighbouring countries over water sharing due to its hegemonic hydro-behaviour. It recommends that India should adopt a conciliatory approach to have peaceful relations across the rivers of South Asia.

Water conflict between Pakistan and India: Implications to regional peace and security

“…The water issue between Pakistan and India is not the primary root of tension but after the Kashmir issue, it is the most contentious issue between both states. The Kashmir is a disputed region from where the distributed rivers flow under IWT and on many occasions when tensions heightened India has threatened to abrogate the treaty (Mehsud et al, 2020;. The conflict management theory presents model of construing the conflicts and tools to resolve the problems arising between the countries due to the conflict.…”