India, can be convinced by New Delhi’s detractors to use
the water of its rivers against India. An Indian action on the
Indus might also make neighbours like Bhutan and
Bangladesh nervous. As it is, Bangla desh and India have a
running dispute over the former’s demand for the waters of
the Teesta, a river that flows through Sikkim and north
Bengal and then through Bangladesh.
It is not without significance that of the five rivers
identified by the Joint Research, a thinktank under EU
concerned with transnational conflicts and as possible
flash points, two— Ganga-Brahmaputra and Indus—involve
India. It thus obt ains that
what India may do vis-a-vis
Pakistan using the Indus river
water can be a model for others
to follow. In a situation like
that, India—which has shown
extreme restraint about any
misadventure with the waters
of common rivers—will have no
moral standing to oppose any
such move against it.
Geographically, India is both
an upstream and a downstream
nation in relation to the two major river systems— Ganga-
Brahmaputra and Indus—and may face a serious challenge
from its neighbours on sharing their water. However, the
dom estic problems it faces on this critical yet emotive issue
involving various states, can prove to be a bigger problem.
The manner in which India handles the Cauvery water dis-
pute or other similar disputes involving its states is befitting
of a nation with high economic progress and of its standing as
the primary power in South Asia. Its ability to convince bick-
ering regional parties and state governments to strictly go by
the ruling of water tribunals will help in building confidence
not only within the country but also among its neighbours. It
will allow India to look for cooperative arrangements with
neighbours, irrespective of whether it comes to the negotiat-
ing table as an upstream or a downstream nation.
Such a path of prudence means India will be seen as a
country which not only honours and respects the right of
its neighbours to the region’s common resources—as trans-
national rivers indubitably are—but also bolster India’s
claim from upper riparian neighbours to its fair share of
water. This can lead to better use of water within and out-
side the country and pave the way for perhaps an umbrella
agreement among all nations in the region where water
from the common rivers are fairly shared by all. OHeadwater slow burn
Joint research, a thinktank under eu, listed five
transnational rivers likely to be reasons of a conflict: nile,
Ganga-brahmaputra, Indus, tigris-euphrates, ColoradoThe Colorado river,
creator of the Grand
Canyon, is shared by
seven US states and two
in Mexico. After a 19-
year drought, water flow
has dropped by nearly 20
per cent. In Mexico,
where it once fed a vast
marshy delta, the
Colorado has been dry
for two decades.Egypt worries about the Grand
Renaissance Dam that Ethiopia is
building on the Blue Nile, about
40km from the Sudanese borderNo treaty regulates the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, where dam
construction in Turkey has
reduced flow in Iraq and SyriaIndia and bangladesh fear that
China’s water-diversion ambitions
might one day turn towards the
brahmaputra as a source for
China’s thirsty north. southeast
asian nations are concerned, too.Pakistan and India, in
turn, squabble over the
treaty they concluded
in 1960 on sharing the
waters of the IndusGuArdiNG wAter
indian soldiers at the
Siachen glacier. Major
river-systems originate
in the region.5 August 2019 OutlOOk 45
If India ever plans
to use the Indus to
coerce Pakistan,
it must be
prepared for
similar action by
China and Nepal.
Source: The Economist