Episode 2: Water Management & Diplomacy

South Asia has a paucity of data and information both within nations and across borders in the area of water resources, rivers and glaciers. Greater investment in information and analysis could aid in better-coordinated policy making. How do we better manage our rivers in India to reduce the negative impact of uncertainties in the climate and why do we need to bring water into the conversation of broader policy making? Dr Mirza Rahman and Ambika Vishwanath discuss this and much more in the second episode of The Bridge Project Exclusives series in collaboration with Kubernein Initiative on 'Non-Traditional Security Challenges for South Asia'.

Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman is a Visiting Research Associate at the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) and holds a PhD in Development Studies from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Guwahati. His research specialization is on border studies in Northeast India and transboundary water sharing and management issues between China, India and Bangladesh.

Ambika is the Co-Founder of Kubernein Initiative and is a geopolitical analyst and water security specialist with over 13 years of experience in the field of governance and foreign policy. She has led track two diplomacy efforts and consulted with several governments and international organizations in the MENA region, Europe and India, and helped shape their policies in the field of conflict resolution, water diplomacy and security. 

In this episode, the two water security experts discuss the need for more water diplomacy and cooperation on shared resources in South Asia and what that might look like in the future.

References

1. Ambika Vishwanath, Tensions with China-Pakistan can derail fragile water treaties, but India won’t talk about it, The Print, 06 July, 2020 

2. Ananth Krishnan, Study on China dams brings the Brahmaputra into focus, The Hindu, 29 April, 2020 

3. Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, What counts as a catastrophic flood in the Brahmaputra river basin now?, Scroll, 29 July, 2020

4. Ambika Vishwanath & Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, Handwashing in water-stressed countries major challenge in fight against Covid-19, The Third Pole, 23 March, 2020

Attribution:
The Bridge Project (2020), "Water Management and Diplomacy", Exclusives in Collaboration with Kubernein Initiative (4.2), 16 Aug 2020, URL: https://www.buzzsprout.com/921337/5014517

Research Credits:
Ambika Vishwanath (Host)

Music Credits:
Inspired by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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