Ganges Treaty Renewal Key test for Dhaka-Delhi

The urgent renewal of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty is emerging as one of the most important tests of Bangladesh-India relations as the 30-year agreement approaches expiry in December.

Dhaka is seeking a revised arrangement even as political tensions continue to complicate efforts to reset ties with New Delhi.

Bangladesh is now pressing for a new or comprehensively revised agreement that protects its water rights and addresses the realities of climate change, population growth and changing river flows.

The issue has assumed greater urgency because Bangladesh and India must simultaneously deal with a range of unresolved bilateral matters, including the sharing of other transboundary rivers, particularly the Teesta, border management, killings and push-ins along the frontier, and the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

India has indicated that the Ganges issue will be handled through the existing bilateral mechanism, the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC), while Bangladesh is awaiting a formal response from New Delhi to its proposal for a new agreement.

“The Ganga Water Treaty was signed in 1996 for a period of 30 years and all water-related issues, river-related issues between India and Bangladesh are discussed as part of the agenda of the bilateral Joint Rivers Commission,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi recently.

He said further meetings of the Joint Committee of the Ganga Water Treaty were continuing at the technical level.

The statement comes as Dhaka has formed a team to review the existing treaty and prepare the ground for a new agreement.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman told the Parliament that Bangladesh had already informed the Indian authorities about the new team and was waiting for New Delhi’s response.

“The government is now awaiting their response,” he said.

He said Bangladesh is active in pursuing its fair share of water from common rivers and determined to renegotiate the treaty while protecting the rights of the Bangladeshi people.

Bangladesh and India share 54 transboundary rivers, making water cooperation one of the most consequential aspects of the bilateral relationship.

The Ganges, however, occupies a particularly important place because of its impact on agriculture, food security, riverine ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions of people in Bangladesh.

Foreign Minister Khalilur has stressed that Dhaka wants an arrangement that ensures the essential needs of its people.

“We would like to see that there is an arrangement and a new treaty, or a revised treaty, ensuring the essential needs of our people,” he said on the sidelines of the ninth Indian Ocean Conference in Mauritius.

“These are common rivers, and we have common legacies here, common interests and, as I said, there’s no other alternative but to seek a solution that is durable and will win public trust,” he said, adding that the outcome would also be important for laying the basis for Bangladesh-India relations over the next 25 to 50 years.

Earlier on July 9, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam had described the renewal process as moving in a positive direction.

“I think it is moving in a positive direction. I hope India will understand its importance and come forward accordingly,” she said.

But the diplomatic environment in which the negotiations are taking place remains difficult.

Efforts to arrange Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s first official visit to India since taking office have not materialised this month, despite intensive discussions between Dhaka and New Delhi.

Indian media had reported that Rahman could visit New Delhi between August 20 and 25, with the two sides discussing possible dates.

The proposed early-August visit subsequently fell through, while Dhaka said no final decision had been made.

Bangladesh has indicated that it remains willing to make the visit, but the timing has not been fixed.

The uncertainty has come amid wider efforts by the two governments to repair relations following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024.

The Hasina issue remains one of the biggest obstacles to a political reset. Her recent virtual interaction with journalists in New Delhi on August 5 further angered Dhaka.

Against this backdrop, water diplomacy could become an early and practical test of whether the two neighbours can separate long-term shared interests from immediate political disagreements.

Experts say simply extending the 1996 agreement may not be sufficient because the hydrological, demographic and environmental circumstances have changed considerably over the past three decades.

Prof Shahab Enam Khan, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs, said the treaty should be renewed but comprehensively revised.

“I think it is very important for Bangladesh and India to renew the Ganges Treaty. But it has to be revised.

The very simple reason is that the treaty was done almost three decades ago,” he said.

Officials and experts warn that allowing the treaty to expire without a replacement could seriously affect agricultural production and food availability while increasing the country’s vulnerability to climate change.