NEW DELHI India’s decision to maintain the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan ‘in abeyance’ has proved that India is not going to hesitate to make use of water as a “weapon” in case political relations with widespread riparian neighbours nosedive, a number one water expert of Bangladesh has remarked.
Speaking to The Hindu, Prof. Aninun Nishat, a number one water useful resource and local weather change specialist in Dhaka stated the decision to freeze the Indus Waters Treaty has “cast a shadow” on the prospects of renewal of the 1996 Ganga Waters Agreement.
“When Dhaka signed the Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty, there were doubts on our side on whether India would really share Ganga’s waters as promised as the actual control of the river is with India. The Indus Waters Treaty is a big treaty that was ratified by the Indian parliament. Critics here can cite the decision on Indus and argue that India’s assurances on the Ganga equally has no value,” stated Prof. Nishat who has been half of a number of river-related discussions between India and Bangladesh.
The Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty was signed on December 12, 1996 between Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina throughout what was the primary prime ministerial tenure of Sheikh Hasina. The treaty gives Bangladesh with a minimal movement of water throughout the lean seasons and it may be renewed with “mutual consent” after three a long time. Accordingly, the treaty will come up for renewal in 2026. “Renewal of the Ganga treaty will come up next year but if India continues to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance then it will create doubts about India’s willingness on sharing of river waters with Bangladesh,” stated Prof. Nishat.
The renewal of the Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty has featured in official talks between the 2 on a number of events within the latest previous. The matter got here up through the June 2024 India go to by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina which was her final state go to earlier than the rebellion of July-August 2024 that led to her flight from Bangladesh.
Subsequently, the interim authorities below Chief Advisor Prof. Mohammed Yunus has maintained the dialogue on Ganga. A gathering of the technical groups of the Joint Rivers Commission of India and Bangladesh was held in Kolkata on March 6, 2025 the place the primary topic of dialogue was the Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty. The Bangladesh group additionally visited the joint commentary website at Farakka on this event.
Prof. Nishat stated treaties are authorized paperwork and it’s typically understood that such paperwork would stay unaffected by political sentiments. “But in the case of Indus, it appears that the political sentiment can affect the legal document,” stated Prof. Nishat hinting that India shouldn’t be averse to utilizing water as a “weapon” if political variations improve. “Apart from Ganga, Bangladesh also has the issue of the sharing of Teesta’s waters and Dhaka has agreed to China’s participation in management of Teesta in Bangladesh,” the professor stated, explaining that political variations between Bangladesh and India have been growing in latest months.
Under the interim authorities led by Prof. Yunus, which is towards many initiatives of the Hasina period, Dhaka has warmed up its relations with China in addition to Pakistan. Last week, Pakistan and Bangladesh had a uncommon Foreign Secretary-level speak in Dhaka which was to be adopted by a go to of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar who has courted controversy by describing the terrorists answerable for the bloodbath in Pahalgam as “freedom fighters”. Mr. Dar’s go to to Dhaka has been cancelled in the interim in view of the prevailing India-Pak pressure.
Published – April 26, 2025 12:12 am IST
