Hydro-Politics of Trans-Boundary Water Resources in South Asia: A Water- Energy-food Nexus of Cooperation

Abstract

Water is a vital resource for 1.9 billion, 24.89 Percent of the total world population residing in the South Asian states and the geopolitics of the region primarily is hydro-politics. The water geography of the region comprises river basins like the Indus, Ganges, Meghna, and Brahmaputra, acting as capillaries responsible for the flow of life in this gigantic region. Allocation of water resources is an external as well internal policy challenge for South Asian states. Taking a view of the water geography of the region and treaties governing trans boundary water flow, the paper aims to address the question of whether the water problem can be dealt only with the traditional security paradigm, focusing on water conflict through the state-centric lens; or the issue can be reflected with the prism of unconventional security paradigms as waters are integral to economic, food, environmental and human security. Human security combined with Liberal-Functionalist approaches may transform the crisis into a prospective scenario of peace and cooperation in the region