Water wars: How is climate change, specifically water scarcity, affecting existing dynamics between India and its neighbors?
Khalae, Maneesha Kaur
This thesis explores the question of how climate change, and in particular, water scarcity affects relationships between India and its neighbors, specifically at these border zones that have a history of being contentious. The relations between India and its neighbors, particularly China and Bangladesh, are marked by certain variables that make them prone to hostilities. Take for example, the aggressively anti-Muslim stance of the Modi administration and its increasing instrangience on matters of migration from Bangladesh, who is also seeing a shift towards authoritarianism. China and India too are engaging in border skirmishes and melees as China grows into its superpower shoes, and challenging India's claims over bordering regions. I will argue that water is the 'blue veins' of the subcontinent that truly ties all these conflicts together and will determine whether or not India will see peace, conflict or unstable stasis with Bangladesh and China. This thesis will center discussions on establishing two points; what has previously occurred to make these borders contentious in an environmental and specifically water-sharing sense, and secondly, how has or will water scarcity affect(ed) the dynamic in the border zone between India and the second country. In essence, the paper will explore why neighbors fight over river sharing and how water scarcity affects this already contentious relationship. I will argue that the lack of institutional resilience, contentious state of infrastructure, a lack of social stability within countries, an overall hostile tenor of relations between riparian states and finally an asymmetrical balance of power, predisposes two or more nation states who are riparian parties to have conflicts over the shared transboundary resource. The specific case studies I will be examining will be between India and Bangladesh, as well as India and China, examined through the lens of the river basins the borders are situated in.
Honors thesis. B.A. in International Relations, Spring 2021, Boston University.
↧