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Saturday | September 19, 2026 | Dhaka

Ganges water pact renewal hangs fire

 Al Mamun Harun Ur Rashid
 Published: 12:56 AM, 19 September 2026

Bangladesh presses for a durable successor pact as December expiry nears, while India weighs Bihar’s water demands Bangladesh is seeking an early and durable renewal of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with India to safeguard its dry-season water supply, with the 30-year agreement set to expire on 12 December and formal political negotiations yet to begin. Dhaka says it has prepared for a new agreement and informed New Delhi, but is still awaiting India’s response.

The approaching deadline is putting renewed focus on one of the most sensitive issues in Bangladesh-India relations, as Dhaka seeks a predictable arrangement for the Ganges while India faces growing demands from states including Bihar.

Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman told Parliament on 27 August that Bangladesh had formed a team to prepare a new agreement and informed India.

Dhaka was waiting for New Delhi’s response and wanted an arrangement that would meet people’s essential needs, remain durable and maintain public trust, he said.

“Our relationship with the Ganges water is a matter of life and death. Our entire civilisation and livelihood depends on access to its waters. We want to see a revised agreement that can meet people’s urgent needs,” Khalilur said in an NDTV interview in April.

The 1996 treaty governs sharing of Ganges waters at Farakka during the lean season from 1 January to 31 May.

When the flow is 70,000 cusecs or less, India and Bangladesh receive 50 per cent each. Between 70,000 and 75,000 cusecs, Bangladesh receives 35,000 cusecs and India gets the balance.

At 75,000 cusecs or above, India receives 40,000 cusecs and Bangladesh gets the remainder.

The treaty also guarantees each country 35,000 cusecs alternately during three consecutive 10-day periods between 11 March and 10 May.

Although political negotiations have not publicly begun, technical engagement continues through the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC).

A JRC meeting was held in Kolkata from 21 to 23 May, including observation of measurement methodology at Farakka. Bangladesh indicated that treaty renewal was raised at the meeting, although Indian representatives did not publicly characterise it as the start of formal renewal negotiations.

India has maintained that Ganges and other water-related matters should be addressed through the bilateral JRC.

India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs has recommended that bilateral discussions begin early to avoid a post-2026 vacuum. It also called for updated hydrological data, climate projections and consultations involving Bihar and West Bengal.

Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee said in June that Bangladesh was reviewing existing water-sharing arrangements with India and working to secure its fair share of transboundary rivers.

Dhaka is also considering new agreements, strengthening the JRC and promoting integrated river-basin management, he said.

The renewal process has acquired an additional domestic dimension in India, with Bihar increasingly pressing its water requirements.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Delhi on 20 August and said Jaishankar assured him that Bihar’s concerns over Farakka and the Ganges treaty would be considered.

Bihar has argued that its drinking-water, irrigation and industrial needs must be protected. Janata Dal (United) national working president and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Kumar Jha on 10 September urged New Delhi not to renew the treaty in its existing form.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary has similarly said the state’s interests must be protected, including its need to use Ganges water for drinking, agriculture and industry.

Jaishankar later told Jha that inter-ministerial consultations under the Ministry of Jal Shakti had examined the treaty’s implementation and future, including Bihar’s drinking-water and industrial requirements. He said the government would take an appropriate decision after considering these factors.

Md Obaidul Haque, Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka, said Bangladesh should pursue diplomatic and legal avenues to protect its interests.

“Bangladesh needs to pursue all approaches. All policy and legal issues need to be kept in order so that Bangladesh gets its rightful share,” he told The New Nation.