Agreements and Institutions Related to Shared Rivers within South Asia and Beyond

Abstract

Six countries of South Asia—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan—share the water flows of twenty major and scores of smaller rivers. The three main river systems are the Indus, the Ganga or Ganges, and the Brahmaputra. The Indus Basin includes areas in China, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. The Brahmaputra and the Ganges connect China, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. At present South Asia is arguably the only region without any regional mechanism or initiative on the sharing of the common trans-boundary rivers.