Call to restore 1977 clause in new agreement

Bangladesh must negotiate a new Ganges water-sharing treaty with India in light of the changed circumstances and new realities.

In this regard, the guarantee clause, or safeguard provision, included in the 1977 treaty must be reinstated. At the same time, Bangladesh must emphasise establishing the right to information to ensure fairness in water sharing.

Experts made the remarks at a seminar held in the capital on Tuesday afternoon on the 30-year Ganges water-sharing treaty.

The research organisation Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) organised the seminar, titled “Ganges Water Treaty: Issues for Renegotiation.”

Experts also called for strengthening Bangladesh’s negotiating capacity and using international law before signing a new treaty with India.

Speaking as the chief guest, Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee said, “I hope the prime minister will present a strong position on the treaty (Ganges water-sharing treaty) in favour of Bangladesh when he visits the United Nations next month. He must firmly present our rights and interests there.”

He said Dhaka was also willing to seek legal recourse at the international level if necessary to safeguard the country’s interests in a coordinated manner.

The water resources minister further said, “The first treaty, signed in 1977, protected our interests. It included a guarantee clause. But memorandums of understanding were signed in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985, and none of them contained a guarantee clause. The 1996 treaty subsequently dropped the guarantee clause.”

He said Bangladesh had been deprived because the guarantee clause was absent.

According to Shahid Uddin Chowdhury, Bangladesh must revive the guarantee clause that was dropped from the Ganges water-sharing arrangement in 1977. He also said the right to information must be established in all future treaties.

The Water Resources Minister criticised the Awami League government’s handling of relations with India.

“Our relationship with the neighbouring country is friendly. However, our friends need to provide greater cooperation in safeguarding Bangladesh’s interests and rights. We must take the relationship forward while respecting the feelings of the people of Bangladesh and the interests of the country,” he said.

Former interim government law adviser and Professor of Law at the University of Dhaka, Asif Nazrul presented the keynote paper at the seminar.

In his paper, titled “Ganges Treaty: A need for new thinking”, he said around 70 per cent of the Ganges basin lies in India’s Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, leaving Bangladesh structurally as a lower-basin country.

The expansion of extensive irrigation projects upstream in India has caused extreme variations in water flow during the dry season.

Asif Nazrul identified the absence of a guarantee for a minimum water flow in the 1996 treaty, compared with the guarantee clause in the 1977 treaty, as a fundamental structural weakness.

Citing statistics, he showed that Bangladesh’s share had fallen by around 6.52 per cent under the new treaty. He noted that during 27 critical periods between 2008 and 2016, Bangladesh failed to receive the minimum water flow on 15 occasions.

He also pointed out that the existing treaty contains no specific mechanism for the right to information, environmental protection or dispute resolution.

At the end of his paper, Asif Nazrul presented several specific recommendations concerning the Ganges water-sharing treaty.

Designated discussant Emeritus Professor M Feroze Ahmed of Stamford University stressed the need to assess Bangladesh’s water requirements in each sector under an integrated water resources management framework before putting forward its demands.

Speaking as the special guest, State Minister for Water Resources, Farhad Hossain Azad highlighted the loss of navigability in 54 rivers across the country.

He called on everyone to raise awareness to ensure the country’s water security in the future.

BILIA Chairman and Professor of Law at the University of Dhaka, Borhan Uddin Khan delivered the concluding remarks.

He said, “In the new treaty, we want a guarantee clause, a dispute settlement clause and the right to information.”