Speaker Profile: Dr. Uttam Kumar Sinha

Dr. Uttam Kumar Sinha is a Research Fellow at IDSA. A PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, he worked in the editorial of the daily The Pioneer and wrote a weekly column ‘Strategic Eye’. He was a visiting fellow to the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo and a Chevening ‘Gurukul’ Scholar to the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008. His research area focuses on non-traditional aspects of security with particular attention on climate change and transboundary water issues. He has recently co-authored the IDSA Report on “Security Implications of Climate Change for India”, (2009).

Abstract

Sharing Common Rivers: Is it a Source of Cooperation or Conflict?

Any water outlook will have to necessitate interdisciplinary approaches linking together the natural sciences, politics and policy. As population in the region grows and at the same time available water resources shrink, riparian relations will be critical. While ebb and flow of the rivers offer ample opportunity for human ingenuity on water development it equally creates barriers. The management of rivers does not operate in a vacuum but rather in a complex political and economic framework. This presentation will raise and examine fundamental questions on the driving forces behind water demand; on the political barriers that stand in the way of river cooperation and the behaviour of riparian states in the subcontinent. Riparian states differ in their views of what cooperation entails for them and not surprisingly, a power game ensues.

From a regional perspective, an analysis on water security would essentially entail an investigation as to why and when states choose to cooperate over water or why and when states tend to use water as ‘bargaining tool’ and an ‘instrument of politics’. Indeed, “Water in a Changing World”, will assume greater salience and as it does the drivers impacting water resources, whether from climate variability and security issues or hydropower-generation and migration, will need to be factored and solutions searched for. While it prompts fresh thinking on water security and water management by looking ‘beyond the river’ and building benefits from shared waters, it can, given the need of water, create stresses and strains over competition for volume and access. The challenge for decision-makers in midst of palpable tensions and strife is to constantly find new mechanism and approaches to reduce tension over water issues.