Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
मनोहर पर्रिकर रक्षा अध्ययन एवं विश्लेषण संस्थान

Uttam Kumar Sinha

Uttam Kumar Sinha is a leading scholar and commentator on transboundary rivers, climate change and the Arctic. He was Co-Chair of the Think-20 Task Force on ‘Accelerating SDGs: Exploring New Pathways to the 2030 Agenda’ during India’s G20 Presidency.After a brief stint in the print media and a doctoral degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, he joined the MP-IDSA in 2001, where he coordinates the Non-Traditional Security Centre and is the Managing Editor of Strategic Analysis published by Routledge, the institute’s flagship journal.He is a recipient of many fellowships and leadership programmes including senior fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (2018-2020); US-South Asia Leader Engagement Programme at the Harvard Kennedy School (2015); Chevening ‘Gurukul’ leadership at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2008) and a visiting fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (2006).His recently published work is BBIN Sub-Region: Perspectives on Climate-water-Energy Nexus (Pentagon Press, 2023), Indus Basin Interrupted: A History of Territory and Politics from Alexander to Nehru (Penguin, 2021). His other works include the Riverine Neighbourhood: Hydro-politics in South Asia (Pentagon Press, 2016) and Climate Change Narratives: Reading the Arctic (2014). His edited and co-edited volumes include Modi: Shaping a Global Order in Flux (Wisdom Tree, 2023); MODI 2.0: A Resolve To Secure India (Pentagon Press, 2021); The Modi Doctrine: New Paradigms in India’s Foreign Policy (Wisdom Tree, 2016); Non-Traditional Security Challenges in Asia: Approaches and Responses (Routledge, 2015); Arctic: Commerce, Governance and Policy (Routledge, 2015) and Emerging Strategic Trends in Asia (Pentagon Press, 2015).

Senior Fellow

Publication

Trial by Water: Indus Basin and India-Pakistan Relations

  • Publisher: Penguin Random House India
In 1947, the Indian subcontinent was partitioned, and Pakistan was born. A shared heritage, a composite culture and centuries-old bonds between people, all seemed to vanish overnight. Nowhere was this rupture more profound than in the Indus Basin—once a unified lifeline of the region, now fragmented by sovereign borders, its rivers flowing through two nations immediately at odds with each other. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960, proving that even bitter adversaries could cooperate over shared resources. Yet, it never brought lasting peace. The treaty was suspended by India in April 2025 as a punitive measure in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, and its future remains shrouded in uncertainty. Can it still endure and adapt? Perhaps the time has come for a new arrangement—one that is not just inevitable but essential. This book traces the turbulent history of the Indus Basin and examines how the Indus Waters Treaty has been shaped by the region’s ever-evolving political dynamics. It explores the role of key leaders on both sides, as well as external pressures, in shaping and reshaping one of the world’s most critical transboundary water agreements. The Indus Basin has been a witness to conflict, compromise and survival. And if you seek to understand the true nature of India–Pakistan relations, start with the rivers that bind them. Trial by Water leads us in that direction.
  • ISBN: 9780143471028,
  • Price: ₹ 599/-
  • E-copy available

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Uttam Sinha’s Book ‘Trial By Water: Indus Basin and India-Pakistan Relations’ Published by Penguin Random House

Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Sinha's book ‘Trial By Water: Indus Basin and India-Pakistan Relations’ has been published by Penguin Random House. The book traces the turbulent history of the Indus Basin and examines how the Indus Waters Treaty has been shaped by the region’s ever-evolving political dynamics. It explores the role of key leaders on both sides, as well as external pressures, in shaping and reshaping one of the world’s most critical transboundary water agreements. Read Complete Article [+]

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Uttam Sinha’s Article ‘Who’s The Big River Daddy? Published in Times of India

Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Sinha’s article ‘Who’s The Big River Daddy? was published in Times of India on 10 July 2025. India’s not at the kind of hydrological disadvantage in Brahmaputra’s case as Pakistan is in Indus’s. China’s real upstream strength is data. India’s downstream defences have to be science-backed, says Dr Sinha. Read Complete Article [+] Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way reflect the views of MP-IDSA or the Government of India.

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Uttam Sinha’s Brief ‘Hydropolitics Unveiled: India-China Riparian Relations’ Published in Asian Confluence Special Series on Water Security

Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA Dr Uttam Sinha’s brief ‘Hydropolitics Unveiled: India-China Riparian Relations’ has been published in Asian Confluence Special Series on Water Security on 16 June 2025.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way reflect the views of MP-IDSA or the Government of India.

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Uttam Sinha’s Opinion Piece ‘Indus Waters Treaty: Putting Arbitration in Abeyance’ Published in Organiser Magazine

Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Sinha's opinion piece ‘Indus Waters Treaty: Putting Arbitration in Abeyance’ has been published in Organiser Magazine on 04 June 2025. As a peaceful pause post the abeyance of Indus Waters Treaty has been effectively established, Bharat now has the moral upper hand to renegotiate the rightful terms and conditions for the benefit and prosperity of not just J&K but the whole country, says Dr Sinha. Read Complete Article [+] Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way reflect the views of MP-IDSA or the Government of India.

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Ashok K. Behuria and Uttam Sinha’s Op-ed ‘The Field Marshal In His Labyrinth’ Published in The Times of India

Senior Fellows Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Ashok K Behuria and Dr Uttam Sinha’s op-ed ‘The Field Marshal In His Labyrinth’ has been published in ‘The Times of India’ on 21 May 2025.

Islamabad is on edge post ceasefire. The #PakistanStandsUnited narrative is slipping. Gen Munir’s promotion is a stabilisation gambit against the army leadership being challenged, write Dr Behuria and Dr Sinha.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way reflect the views of MP-IDSA or the Government of India.

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