KÖPRÜNÜN ALTINA SU TAŞIMAK: HİNDİSTANPAKİSTAN SU İLİŞKİLERİ ÖRNEĞİ

Year 2020, Volume: 58 Issue: 2, 113 - 134, 16.12.2020

Aydın Güven Gulshan Bıbı

Abstract

Water is sine qua non for life on the globe. From people’s prosperity to the existence of all species, the essentiality of water engulfs almost all dimensions of human life. Its abundance, however, can result in destruction and its shortage can result in food insecurity and other climate change-induced effects. Within this context, there is a growing concern in two South Asian states - Pakistan and India - about the potential impacts of water scarcity resulting in future water wars.

For almost 200 million people of Pakistan, the Indus River is the main source of water. A rapid increase in the population over the past decades has also created new
pressures on water that was once a plentiful resource for the health and development of the country. On the other hand, the escalating tensions between Pakistan
and India, which share the Indus flow, may also lead to violent confrontation in an already turbulent part of the world. In this context, this paper will try to answer three
significant questions: (i) How water insecurity can lead to regional insecurity of South Asia? (ii) How can India and Pakistan counter water stress, specifically in the case of Indus Water Treaty? (iii) What is the main purpose of the multi-purpose dams built by India along the Kabul River in Afghanistan and the Indus River and how does Pakistan strategize itself to counter Indian moves? Taking notes from theories of International Relations, Human Security Framework and Regional Security Complex
Theory would prove as how water stress can result in a full fledge conflict between Indian and Pakistan.

Keywords

Pakistan - Hindistan Su Sorunu, İndus Su Antlaşması, Bölgesel Güvenlik Kompleksi Teorisi, İklim Değişikliği, Su Güvenliği, Su Savaşları

BRINGING WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE: A CASE FOR INDIA-PAKISTAN WATER RELATIONS

Abstract

Water is sine qua non for life on the globe. From people’s prosperity to the existence of all species, the essentiality of water engulfs almost all dimensions of human life. Its abundance, however, can result in destruction and its shortage can result in food insecurity and other climate change-induced effects. Within this context, there is a growing concern in two South Asian states - Pakistan and India - about the potential impacts of water scarcity resulting in future water wars.
For almost 200 million people of Pakistan, the Indus River is the main source of water. A rapid increase in the population over the past decades has also created new
pressures on water that was once a plentiful resource for the health and development of the country. On the other hand, the escalating tensions between Pakistan
and India, which share the Indus flow, may also lead to violent confrontation in an already turbulent part of the world. In this context, this paper will try to answer three
significant questions: (i) How water insecurity can lead to regional insecurity of South Asia? (ii) How can India and Pakistan counter water stress, specifically in the case of Indus Water Treaty? (iii) What is the main purpose of the multi-purpose dams built by India along the Kabul River in Afghanistan and the Indus River and how does Pakistan strategize itself to counter Indian moves? Taking notes from theories of International Relations, Human Security Framework and Regional Security Complex
Theory would prove as how water stress can result in a full fledge conflict between Indian and Pakistan.

Keywords

Pakistan - Hindistan, Su Güvenliği, Su Savaşları, İndus Su Antlaşması, İklim Değişikliği

References

• Abseno, Musa M. “The influence of the UN Watercourses Convention on the Development of a Treaty Regime in the Nile River Basin”, Water International. Vol. 38, No. 2, 2013, pp. 192- 203.
• Adeel, Zafar, and Wirsing, Robert G. Imagining Industan: Overcoming Water Insecurity in the Indus Basin. Switzerland: Springer, 2017.