Securing its fair share of the transboundary rivers' waters is likely to become a major issue for Bangladesh in the coming days, making effective water diplomacy, international cooperation and constructive engagement with India increasingly important, officials and experts have said.
The urgency is underscored by the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, signed on December 12, 1996, which is due to expire on the same date this year. The government in Dhaka has been increasingly vocal in recent weeks, communicating a vision that Bangladesh will be seeking a new or revised agreement that safeguards its interests, particularly its share of dry-season flows, with the inclusion of a guarantee clause.
“Water could emerge as one of the major challenges for the entire world, including Bangladesh, in the future,” said Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan on Thursday, stressing the need to integrate proper water management into national development planning.
Bangladesh and India share 54 transboundary rivers, but the Ganges remains the only one covered by a bilateral water-sharing agreement between the two countries.
Guarantee clause a key priority
Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee said Bangladesh wants a new or revised Ganges agreement rather than simply renewing the existing treaty, with provisions guaranteeing its required share of water during the dry season.
“Our main priority will be to bring back the guarantee clause that was included in the 1977 agreement,” he said on Thursday.
The 1977 agreement, negotiated by the BNP's founder Ziaur Rahman, included a safeguard stipulating that if the Ganges flow at Farakka fell below the level projected in the treaty to be provided to Bangladesh as its scheduled share during any 10-day period, the release to Bangladesh would not fall below 80% of that share.
An official also referred to Article III of the 1977 agreement, which stipulated that water released to Bangladesh at Farakka should not be reduced below Farakka, except for India's reasonable water uses, not exceeding 200 cusecs, between Farakka and the point where both banks of the Ganges lie within Bangladesh.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Bangladesh would seek an outcome that safeguards its national interests and security, including through a possible guarantee clause.
Asked whether the existing treaty would be renewed or replaced with a new agreement, he said, “Whatever is best for Bangladesh’s interest will be done.”
Kobir said Bangladesh’s committee was ready and Dhaka was awaiting a final response from its Indian counterparts.
“Our committee is ready. We are just waiting for the final response from our Indian counterparts. So yes, we are hopeful,” he said.
He also stressed that international law was being taken into consideration in addressing the water-sharing issues.
The Indian government, through its Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has said that issues concerning the Ganges treaty and other shared rivers would be discussed through the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC).
“On the Ganga Water Treaty, as also other rivers that we share between Bangladesh and India, we have a Joint Rivers Commission. All matters relating to rivers, river-related matters, will be discussed as part of this Joint Rivers Commission,” he said recently, adding that technical-level meetings on the Ganges treaty had continued.
Kobir said sincerity at the political and official levels in both countries was essential to finding an amicable resolution to the long-standing water-sharing issues.
He expressed optimism that the issues could be resolved positively if the leadership of both countries demonstrated a willingness to cooperate.
Cooperation key to water diplomacy
Anee said water diplomacy should focus on cooperation and mutual benefits rather than competition, stressing the need for sustained dialogue, scientific cooperation, data sharing and inclusive water governance.
“Cooperation should create mutual benefits rather than being framed explicitly as a competition over water,” he said.
He described water as closely linked to Bangladesh’s geography, economy, agriculture, culture, foreign policy and national security.
“We are a delta country shaped by rivers. Yet, we are also a riparian country dependent on water flows originating beyond our borders,” he said.
Anee called for stronger engagement through the JRC and multilateral water governance mechanisms, alongside greater international cooperation and scientific collaboration.
Bangladesh has joined the UN Water Convention, while the Delta Plan 2100 and national river-management initiatives provide a broader framework for addressing long-term water challenges.
“We need cooperation instead of confrontation, evidence instead of assumptions, participation instead of execution, and long-term planning instead of short-term responses,” he said.
“Our goal should not simply be to manage water crises when they occur; our goal should be to build a just, decent, and cooperative water future,” Anee added, calling for greater youth participation in water governance.
Teesta remains a major concern
Turning to the Teesta, Anee said the river was particularly important for people in northern Bangladesh, where seasonal variations cause water shortages during the dry season and erosion and flooding during the monsoon.
He said the government had placed considerable emphasis on the Teesta project, with feasibility studies and technical assistance underway.
State Minister Kobir also highlighted the importance of water diplomacy on multilateral platforms, stronger international partnerships, technology transfer and scientific cooperation to advance Bangladesh’s interests in transboundary water management.
With the Ganges treaty approaching expiry, Bangladesh faces the task of securing an equitable and sustainable water-sharing arrangement while strengthening cooperation on other shared rivers.
“I think it is very important for Bangladesh and India to renew the Ganges Treaty. But it has to be revised. The very simple reason is that the treaty was done almost three decades ago,” international affairs expert Prof Shahab Enam Khan told UNB recently.
Shahab, who is the executive director of Bangladesh Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs, strongly suggested that this should also come with arrangements such as revitalising the JRC and including a much more transparent and accountable data-sharing system, which will definitely build much more confidence over "hydro-diplomacy" and water management and water sharing, most importantly, between the two countries.
“This is very important that we should also go into the diplomatic negotiations not only from the diplomatic perspective, but also from engineering, science, and definitely economic perspectives,” he said.
Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur, while attending the ninth Indian Ocean Conference in Mauritius, said they would like to see that there is an arrangement and a new treaty, or a revised treaty, ensuring the essential needs of their people.
“These are common rivers, and we have common legacies here, common interests and, as I said, there's no other alternative but to seek a solution that is durable and will win public trust. And this will also be very important to lay the basis for the relationship over the next 25 to 50 years,” he told NDTV on the sidelines of the conference.
The foreign minister said they have done 55 years (of bilateral relations) already. “So, I don't think we should look at five years or ten years. We have to look at the very long term. So, mutual climate resilience as a priority in our foreign policies, our people policy, I should say, will actually be a key driver of the future.”