South Asia's powerful upstream countries unwilling to address water-sharing issues: Experts

In South Asia, powerful upstream countries do not want to sit in talks with downstream countries to address the water-sharing issues, said legal experts on Thursday. 

They said this at the two-day-long 9th International Water Conference held at a Dhaka city hotel under the theme ‘Water, River and Climate Change: Creating Space for Resilience’.

While moderating a session titled ‘Rights of the River: Integrated Basin Management’, Dr Asif Nazrul, a law professor at Dhaka University, said, “In South Asia, major upstream countries do not want to sit with downstream countries.”

Most agreements are ‘reactive’ ones made in order to accommodate unilateral projects by upstream or powerful countries, he said.

“They usually go bilateral to resolve any water- and river-related disputes. If we look into the South Asian water-sharing treaties, we see that most of them are periodical treaties for a selective timeframe, which we do not see in other parts of the world,” he continued.

He also stated that all the basin states must find a fair way of allocating water to avoid disagreement. Also, there must be a regional framework for comprehensive data sharing regarding water resource management.

First Secretary and Deputy Head of Development Cooperation, Embassy of Sweden, Nayoka Martinez-Bäckström stressed the need for the inclusion of young people in water-related discussion and climate justice movement.

She also emphasised the youth-led enterprise for sustainable water management.

Dr Ainun Nishat, professor emeritus at the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER), BRAC University, said, “In climate and water negotiations, it’s imperative to understand the politics at play.

“Climate change significantly impacts food security, and water is essential for ensuring this security. By understanding climate politics well, we can strongly stand for climate justice,” he added.

Dr Khairul Islam, regional director at WaterAid, South Asia Region, and M Riaz Hamidullah, ambassador, Embassy of Bangladesh in the Netherlands, spoke among others.

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