South Asia Watercourse Regimes: Reflection on the International Customary Norms of Water Law and the Role of SAARC
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55184/dmejl.v1i01.49Keywords:
SAARC, Watercourse Regime, South Asia, Water Customary Norms of International LawAbstract
South Asia is considered to be the most vulnerable region in terms of arrangements and management of shared water resources. In order to peacefully regulate and manage the South Asian watercourse regimes, five major international legal instruments and arrangements have been put into place. Most of these instruments have been negotiated in a different prevailing socio-economic and political atmosphere at a time when most of the existing international watercourse principles/rules were developing or at their earlier stage of development. For instance, Indus Water Treaty was negotiated and concluded in 1960 a time when the existing principle of “Equitable and Reasonable Utilization” and rule of “No Harm” had not been fully culminated in the international customary rules which they are today. While only a few South Asian watercourse treaties, such as Ganga/Ganges Treaty, incorporate the notions of “equity,” others are silent about such concerns of “equity” and “equitable treatment” of shared water resources between the parties to the treaty. This shows an improper and inconsistent watercourse practice of South Asian countries. Against these backdrops, the paper seeks to analyze the extent to which South Asian Watercourse Conventions incorporates these customary principles of international law. The paper argues that the South Asian countries could sign the 1997 Watercourses Convention for the management of South Asian shared water resources. They could also establish an institutionalized cooperation mechanism under the mandate of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for facilitating implementation and institutional monitoring of equity, adaptation, flexibility and reasonableness in the agreement of South Asian water-sharing.
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