Transboundary Water Cooperation Over the Brahmaputra River Legal Political Economy Analysis of Current and Future Potential Cooperation
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Water Diplomacy: Making Water Cooperation Work Project Report Transboundary Water Cooperation over the Brahmaputra River Legal Political Economy Analysis of Current and Future Potential Cooperation August 2017 This publication is part of the Water Diplomacy: Making Water Cooperation Work project, led by The Hague Institute for Global Justice, in collaboration with Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), UNESCO Category II Centre for International Water Cooperation (ICWC), Uppsala University, University of Otago, University College Cork, and Tufts University Water Diplomacy Program. Primary funding for this project is provided by The Hague Institute for Global Justice. This project is also financially supported by SIWI and the YEP Water Program/Netherlands Water Partnership. Authors: Yumiko Yasuda (The Hague Institute for Global Justice; ICWC; SIWI; Uppsala University), Dipankar Aich (The Hague Institute for Global Justice), Douglas Hill (University of Otago), Patrick Huntjens (The Hague Institute for Global Justice), Ashok Swain (Uppsala University). Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Hague Institute for Global Justice, any other individual, or any other organization. Citation: Yasuda, Y., Aich, D., Hill, D., Huntjens, P., Swain, A. (2017) Transboundary Water Cooperation over the Brahmaputra River: Legal Political Economy Analysis of Current and Future Potential Cooperation. The Hague Institute for Global Justice. Photo credits: Cover, pp. o, 56, 114: Yumiko Yasuda Pp. 3, 26, 79, 83: Sumit Vij Design: Juliane Schillinger, The Hague Institute for Global Justice © The Hague Institute for Global Justice, 2017 a Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank all interviewees and workshop participants for their kind contributions without whom this report would not have been possible. The research team appreciates the contribution of IUCN Asia for the research work in Bangladesh, India and Bhutan, as well as the multi-stakeholder workshop conducted for this project. Many thanks to Archana Chatterjee and Brian Furze for their kind support to this research project. The authors would like sincerely thank Marian J. Neal for taking time to provide constructive feedback to the overall research leading to this report, and Rens de Man for his coordination of the workshop in Bangkok. We are grateful for the support by Josh Weinberg for his inputs to fieldwork in China, and for providing written feedback on an earlier draft of this report. The Authors would also like to thank Bjørn-Oliver Magsig and Thom Almeida for their input to the legal analysis. We would also like to thank Juliane Schillinger for editorial and design support. Thanks also to Nick Chipperfield for carefully editing this report. b Contents List of tables .............................................................................................. e List of figures ............................................................................................. e List of abbreviations .................................................................................... f List of legal instruments .............................................................................. g Executive summary ..................................................................................... i 1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 2. Methodology .......................................................................................... 4 2.1 Research background and objectives .................................................... 4 2.2 Development of conceptual and analytical framework ............................. 4 2.3 Data collection and analysis ................................................................ 8 2.4 Report structure .............................................................................. 10 3. Basin-wide context ............................................................................... 11 3.1 Physical geography of the Brahmaputra River ...................................... 11 3.2 Socio-economic situation related to the Brahmaputra ........................... 15 3.3 Alterations to the river ...................................................................... 17 3.4 Political context ............................................................................... 17 3.5 Interdependency .............................................................................. 18 3.6 Chapter conclusion ........................................................................... 19 4. Overview of cooperation along the Brahmaputra River .............................. 20 4.1 Track I: Bilateral cooperation ............................................................ 20 4.2 Track I: Multilateral cooperation ........................................................ 23 4.3 Track II and III cooperation .............................................................. 23 4.4 Chapter conclusion ........................................................................... 25 5. Action situation 1: India-China cooperation .............................................. 27 5.1 Action situation, outputs and outcomes............................................... 27 5.2 Factors affecting the cooperation ....................................................... 30 5.3 Chapter conclusion and possible future action situations ....................... 37 6. Action situation 2: India-Bangladesh cooperation ..................................... 39 6.1 Action situation, outputs and outcomes............................................... 39 6.2 Factors affecting the cooperation ....................................................... 44 6.3 Chapter conclusion and potential future action situation ........................ 54 7. Action situation 3: India-Bhutan cooperation ............................................ 57 7.1 Action situation, outputs and outcomes............................................... 57 7.2 Factors affecting cooperation ............................................................. 60 7.3 Chapter conclusion and possible future action situations ....................... 68 8. Action Situation 4: Bhutan-Bangladesh cooperation .................................. 70 8.1 Action situation, outputs and outcomes............................................... 70 8.2 Factors affecting the cooperation ....................................................... 72 8.3 Chapter conclusion and possible future action situations ....................... 74 9. Action situation 5: China-Bangladesh cooperation ..................................... 75 9.1 Action situation, outputs and outcomes............................................... 75 9.2 Factors affecting the cooperation ....................................................... 75 9.3 Chapter conclusion and possible future action situations ....................... 78 10. Action Situation 6: Bhutan-China cooperation ......................................... 80 c 10.1 Action situation, outputs and outcomes ............................................. 80 10.2 Factors affecting the cooperation ...................................................... 80 10.3 Chapter conclusion and possible future action situations ..................... 82 11. Action situation 7: Ecosystem for Life .................................................... 84 11.1 Action situation, outputs and outcomes ............................................. 84 11.2 Factors affecting the cooperation ...................................................... 89 11.3 Conclusion and possible future action situations ................................. 92 12. Action situation 8: Brahmaputra Dialogue .............................................. 93 12.1 Action situation, outputs and outcomes ............................................. 93 12.2 Factors affecting the cooperation ...................................................... 95 12.3 Chapter conclusion and possible future action situations ..................... 99 13. Action situation 9: Zone of possible effective cooperation (ZOPEC)...........100 13.1 Action situation, potential outputs and outcomes ...............................101 13.2 Factors affecting ZOPEC .................................................................105 13.3 Chapter conclusion ........................................................................113 14. Conclusion: Key factors affecting cooperation on the Brahmaputra River ..115 Annex I: Indicative questions used during the interviews .............................120 Annex II: Interviews in each country .........................................................130 References .............................................................................................134 d List of tables Table 1: Percentage of the basin area by country. ........................................ 12 Table 2: Physiographic profile of Brahmaputra basin. .................................... 13 Table 3: Dimensions of Brahmaputra basin within India. ............................... 14 Table 4: Agro-climatic farming systems. ...................................................... 16 Table 5: Indo-Bangladesh Treaties on water sharing. .................................... 40 Table 6: Projects under 2006 Agreement. .................................................... 58 Table 7: India’s contribution to Bhutan’s Five-Year plans. .............................. 62 Table 8: List