The SAARC nations recently gathered for the 16th Summit of the organization in the mountainous city of Thimpu in Bhutan.  The summit largely focused on issues of climate change, environment, increasing trade and connectivity among the SAARC nations, under the sprightly banner of ‘A Green and Happy South Asia.’ One issue that failed to garner much attention, however, was, ‘Water.’ Why are water issues increasingly relevant today? How is water creating further tensions between India and Pakistan? How can SAARC provide an ideal platform to tackle myriad water issues? 

The focus of the current SAARC summit was environment and climatic change in South Asia and the need for the various SAARC countries to collaborate and blunt the effects of these changes on the region. Some of the substantive highlights at this summit were the decision to create a convention on environment, and having a common SAARC position at the 16th Conference of Parties (COP) in Mexico, later this year. The countries also resolved to commission a study that would address the social, economic and environmental challenges of climate risks. 

The summit, however, was curiously silent on water issues and water management, except for an oblique reference to a regional approach to tackling water issues, made by Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary, Salman Bashir. Considering the direct impact that climate change has on water, this was even starker. Himalayan glaciers, the vast stores of fresh water, are the main source of irrigation, drinking water and energy for one-third of the people of the world. The rivers discharging the waters of these glaciers may die soon, as the glaciers have been retreating at a rate of nearly 10 meters every year.

Moreover, water has increasingly emerged as a bone of contention among many of the SAARC countries. Pakistan and India in particular have been jostling over water in a hostile fashion over the last few months. Pakistan maintains that India is stealing its waters and the construction of hydroelectric dams by India is reducing the flow of water to Pakistan.  Pakistan has been objecting to India’s Kishenganga power project; it claims that this project will divert the waters of the Ganga and will also lead to a 27 per cent shortage in water in Pakistan. Similarly India and Bangladesh have fought over the sharing of the Ganges River and Bangladesh argues that it does not get a fair share of the Ganga waters or its territory gets flooded during the monsoons because of the release of the excess waters by India. India and Nepal disagree over the agreements on the Mahakali and the Kosi Rivers. Nepal complains that these are unjust and do not perpetrate an equal sharing of waters between the countries.  

There is an undeniable shortage of water in South Asia, precipitated by the changing climate and a tendency of water wastage in the region, and this shortage has the potential to create a major water crisis in the region. SAARC, nonetheless, has the capability to avert such a crisis by encouraging collaboration among the 8 nations. One of the major water irritants among the South Asian countries has been the construction of large hydro-electric projects which divert shared river waters between countries. In this regard, SAARC can encourage joint water management solutions; for instance, joint hydro-electric projects and energy swaps between the countries.

Another collaborative initiative could be joint watershed management. Watershed management includes managing the supply, quality and drainage of water. It also comprises storm water runoff, water rights and the overall planning and utilization of watersheds. At the recent Nuclear Security Summit at Washington, PM Manmohan Singh announced the setting up of a ‘Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership’ that would engage in studies in various areas related to nuclear energy. SAARC could similarly set up a ‘Regional Center for Water Management’ and representatives from the various SAARC countries could send researchers to study water issues.  Currently, there is a very insignificant exchange of information among the various SAARC countries, especially on river flows and flood data. Institutionalization would provide for a forum to access such information more easily.

Ramaswamy R Iyer, in his published work has suggested ways that countries of South Asia could cooperate on water. Some of his recommendations must be picked up by a SAARC forum. For instance, cooperation on protection of water sources from pollution, degradation or denudation; dealing with problems of drainage in the Indus Basin in India and Pakistan; on the issue of arsenal in aquifers in both India and Bangladesh and flood management.

Water is a commodity that is particularly vital in South Asia, where most of the countries are still largely agrarian. Moreover, water sharing between countries creates bilateral tensions, for example between India and Pakistan, and carries the risk of escalation. Placing the issue within a multilateral forum like SAARC might assist countries in resolving their bilateral issues and in the process would also revitalize SAARC, which has failed to be very fecund in the last few years. Water problems in South Asia today are also more the result of a political deficit between countries than anything else. SAARC, through collaborative projects and programs, can provide an alternative platform for the countries to address this deficit.