“The Indus II and Siachen Peace Park: Pushing India-Pakistan Peace Process Forward”, The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs (London), vol. 98, Issue 404; October 2009, pp. 569-582. (original) (raw)
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Journal of humanities, social and management sciences, 2022
Pakistan and India have a history of animosity on many issues including transboundary water sharing but in 1960 both states agreed on sharing the rivers of the Indus basin by signing the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). IWT ensures sustained cooperation on the issue of transboundary water sharing and sets the parameters for the hydro-diplomacy between Pakistan and India. In recent times, mutual vulnerabilities around the environmental issues and the water scarcity, have again brought in a possibility of extending cooperation on water sharing by revisiting the IWT. Consequently, the hydro-diplomacy has the potential of spill over effect for the settlement of outstanding disputes between Pakistan and India thus paving the way for the regional peace and integration of South Asia. The paper reviews the literature on hydro-diplomacy and incorporates the document analysis to analyse the efficacy of the principles of cooperation laid down in IWT and evaluates the forces that have been behind the treaty and the possibilities for the future of environmental peacebuilding between Pakistan and India. The paper also evaluates the hydrodiplomacy as characterized by the power dynamics, hegemony, and the nature of political and economic relations between Pakistan and India.
Shared Environmental Concerns between India and Pakistan
2014
is paper is a unique opportunity to examine the environmental challenges of India and Pakistan, the two neighboring nations perhaps most important in South Asia, and what they can hope to learn from each other in a new era of political engagement. It looks at each country’s unique constitutional position on the environment and some shared concerns, challenges, and opportunities in the development of environmental law. Seven broad issues are discussed, including regulatory mechanisms on environmental law compliance; strengthening institutions for environmental decision-making; capacity-building of substantive and procedural environmental laws with a focus on executive institutions; the role of environmental law; and the shift in corporate governance from social responsibility to environmental responsibility. The paper then addresses some unique environmental concerns in each country, including critical habitats, ecologically vulnerable wetlands, and other sensitive areas where lessons can be drawn from each other. Another focus is on the relevance of tenure security and local community participation in ensuring conservation. The paper also discusses the issues and challenges of shared resources, such as trans-boundary rivers and groundwater resources involving shared aquifers. Despite the differing economies of scale, there are similar challenges in India and Pakistan on environmental law compliance and the need for institutional development and stronger environmental decision-making, and there is a lot they can learn from each other.
The Indus Waters Treaty: Prospects for India-Pakistan Peace
ISAS- Working Papers, 2021
For the 116 th time, the Indian and Pakistani Indus Waters Commissioners met to exchange views under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) on 23 and 24 March 2021 in New Delhi. The meeting, held after a hiatus of two-and-a-half years, was greeted as a step forward in normalising strained bilateral relations, and coincided with Pakistan Republic Day, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan conveying India's desire to see "cordial relations with the people of Pakistan." Significantly, the meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission occurred only a week after Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa announced at the Islamabad Security Dialogue that it was time for India and Pakistan to "bury the past and move forward". He particularly emphasised water and climate change in view of the impending multi-dimensional challenges facing the region, which he stressed developing countries like Pakistan could not navigate alone. This statement has elicited speculation about whether Pakistan is moving away from its long-time foreign policy of anti-Indianism towards a more pragmatic, geo-economical approach. This paper seeks to examine the contemporary relevance of the IWT within the broader framework of Pakistan's prospective geo-economic shift, while also taking into consideration how "unsettled issues" like Kashmir and cross-border terror will become increasingly difficult for the countries to navigate. In overviewing India and Pakistan's approaches towards water-sharing and internal water management, it also assesses the costs of their "go-it-alone" developmental nationalism, which is rapidly becoming the norm. To build confidence in this unexpected but timely re-engagement-and lay the foundations for bolder trade and peace-related measures in future-both countries should foster an enabling environment by jointly addressing water scarcity and its destabilising effects on the region.
Water conflict between Pakistan and India: Implications to regional peace and security
Journal of Humanities, Social and Management Sciences (JHSMS)
Pakistan and India are water stressed countries and the seed of water conflict between the two has been sowed by the Punjab boundary commission at the time of Partition. Trans-boundary water treaties have played a significant role in resolving the water disputes though the mechanism of conflict resolution varies and structurally fails to address the future problems that may arise. Indus Water Treaty (IWT) has been examined as an efficacious Model of conflict resolution and induced cooperation from 1960s to 1980s. Pakistan claimed that India is violating IWT by building dams and diverting waters of Western Rivers flowing from India to Pakistan. Therefore, the research attempts to answer the following questions. What is the cumulative effect of Indian dams being constructed on the Western Rivers? Can India Unilaterally withdraw the treaty? What would be the implications if India violates the treaty? Holistic content analysis of qualitative method and conflict theory has been used to i...
Geopolitics of Water in South Asia: A Case-Study of Indus Water Treaty as a Conflict Resolution Mechanism for Pakistan-India Water Security Dilemma, 2022
Water resources are the lifeline to any country's economic growth and development. Water is a fundamental human right because it is indispensable for human existence. Pakistan and India both are water-scarce states. The discord of Indus Basin water started when Redcliff Award favoured India. Indus Water Treaty (1960), a trans-boundary treaty played an imperative in resolving the water conflict through its conflict resolution mechanism. Of late, Pakistan protested against India's construction of various dams, diverting the flow of western waters and violating the Indus Water Treaty. This study intends to explore the water security dilemma of Pakistan as a downstream riparian. This research concludes by presenting potential recommendations to help prevent future water crises. If harnessed properly, this treaty would help not only diffuse tensions between two nuclear neighbours but will extend peace and amity in the entire region.
Indus Basin Treaty: Its Relevance to Indo-Рак Relations
Pakistan Horizon, 2002
The early part of the 21st century shows a picture in which almost all the countries of the world are trying to achieve sustainable development by making the production-consumption system Ecofriendly, irrespective of economic differences under the umbrella of threat of rising terrorism leading to hostile relations among neighbours. As an effect of globalization all problems today are considered global but the harsh reality that we are to accept is that the solutions are more regional. One of the causes could be that power sharing differences among North - South exist even today. This ongoing competition along with power sharing differences among countries often takes the form of terrorist act, violating the human rights and threatening the security of region. Thus planning and managerial strategy for sharing resources in a global world has become more complex. These days we find security issues getting directly linked to sustainable development. This necessitates a multidisciplinary...
Geoforum, 2017
Environmental security concerns have broadened the national security agenda and discourse of international relations. Yet environmental insecurity issues have endured impacts on livelihood, human security, social equity, human rights, internal security, political stability, economic growth and development of the state. Environmental challenges, such as climate change, water scarcity and energy security are shaping development and consumption patterns, which are possible causes of interstate conflict in South Asia. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the nexus of climate change, energy and water security with conflict and development. Furthermore, we argue for the need for environmental diplomacy in Pakistan within the South Asian context. The argument is that integration of development with environmental factors and peacemaking has potential to achieve sustainable development in South Asia.