HYDRO-POLITICS AND STRATEGIC REALIGNMENT: THE FARAKKA BARRAGE AND PAKISTAN–BANGLADESH RELATIONS

Abstract

The Farakka Barrage, built by India in 1975 on the Ganges River, roughly 18 km upstream from the Bangladesh border, remains the most contested hydro-political infrastructure in South Asia over the last five decades. This paper scrutinizes the environmental, economic, and geo-political implications of the Farakka Barrage for Bangladesh, exploring how the unilaterally diverting Indian water has harmed the environment of southwestern Bangladesh, increasing salinity in the Sundarbans, severely damaging the agricultural economy of the country, and affecting the livelihoods of nearly 30 million people in Bangladesh. Based on the principles of the Hydro-Hegemony Framework (Zeitoun & Warner, 2006), international water law such as the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention, and based on analysis of hydrological data, treaty documents, and diplomatic records, the paper evaluates the effectiveness of the 1996 Ganges Water Treaty-which is to expire by December 2026-and argues that it has systematically favored India at the cost of Bangladesh. Contextualizing the dispute, the paper positions the Farakka dispute in the wider hydro-hegemonic behavior of India in the context of South Asia and its pattern of behavior under the Indus Water Treaty towards Pakistan. This article makes a unique argument on the effect of the Pak-Bangla strategic alignment after August 2024, as it examines the post-August 2024 Pakistan-Bangladesh rapprochement from a perspective of mutual water disputes with India and how common issues of water-related issues in India's water diplomacy have influenced the ties. Ultimately, the paper calls for regional multilateralism and internationalization of South Asian transboundary water disputes and enhanced Pakistan-Bangladesh collaboration in hydro-diplomacy in South Asia.