"Water resources are both an asset and a source of conflict in South Asia." Examine this statement giving examples.

South Asia, home to nearly a quarter of the world’s population but possessing less than 5% of global freshwater resources, depends heavily on transboundary rivers, making water simultaneously an asset for development and a potential source of regional conflict.

Water as an asset in South Asia.

1. Agricultural lifeline: Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Indus systems support irrigation and food security across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

1. Example: The Ganga Water Treaty (1996) facilitates lean-season water sharing, supporting irrigation and food security in Bangladesh.

1. Clean energy: India–Bhutan cooperation on projects such as Punatsangchhu-II (1,020 MW) converts Himalayan water into hydropower, export revenue and energy security.
2. Water security: The Indus Waters Treaty (1960) provides an institutional framework for sharing the Indus river system, supporting irrigation and water security in both countries.
3. Development cooperation: The India-built Salma Dam (Afghan-India Friendship Dam) on the Hari Rud provides irrigation and hydropower, demonstrating water infrastructure as a development asset.
4. Disaster management: Sharing river-flow and rainfall data can enable early flood warnings, particularly for downstreamcountries.
5. Example: India–Nepal sharing of hydrological data can protect downstream communities, as highlighted byrecent 2026 Bhote Koshi River in Rasuwa, Nepal.

Water as a source of conflict in South Asia

Way Forwad: From Water Conflict to Water Cooperation

1. Move beyond river-specific treaties towards integrated basin-level management involving all riparian states.
2. Ensure real-time sharing of rainfall, snow, glacier and river-flow data to build trust and strengthen early-warning systems.
3. Undertake collaborative management of GLOFs, floods, droughts and hydropower risks across the Himalayan region.
4. Strengthen Joint River Commissions, ICIMOD and BBIN for scientific research, monitoring and coordinated climate adaptation.
5. Shift from merely dividing water to sharing benefits through hydropower, navigation, flood control and energy cooperation.
6. Make existing agreements climate-resilient by incorporating glacier retreat, changing precipitation patterns and future water availability.

South Asia's water challenge is gradually shifting from “who gets how much water” to “how can we collectively manage an uncertain water future.” Climate change makes confrontation increasingly costly; transboundary cooperation, therefore, is not merely desirable but a strategic necessity for regional security and development.