Former Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque on Friday said these days water is seen as a strategic asset, not only as a resource, and rivers influence geopolitics in South Asia.
"Geopolitics is a tool to analyse in the context of political views and national interest," he said while delivering his remarks as chair on the second day of the 7th International Water Conference 2022.
Haque also said geopolitics should not be seen as a zero-sum game. It should be a win-win situation looking through the geopolitical lens.
The conference titled "Teesta River Basin: Overcoming the Challenges" was organied by ActionAid Bangladesh.
The second day of the conference focused on the thematic issues- Structural Interventions and Regional Geo-politics around Teesta River Basin and Teesta River Basin and its Ecosystem and Gender Implications.
Urging for a basin-wise water management system, Hasanul Haq Inu, MP said barrages and dams are affecting the ecosystem.
At the conference, Jayanta Basu, Environment Documentation Expert, Director of Environment Governed Integrated Organisation (EnGIO), Faculty, Calcutta University, presented a paper titled ‘Geopolitics of River Teesta and need to pursue Nature based Negotiated Approach (NBNA)’.
According to his presentation, South Asian transboundary river issues are linked to regional geopolitics as all countries in the region strongly depend on rivers mainly for agriculture, hydroelectricity and other reasons.