THE GANGES WATER SHARING ISSUE : DIPLOMACY AND DOMESTIC POLITICS IN BANGLADESH

Focusing on the protracted negotiations over Ganges flows, this article analyzes how hydropolitics shaped Bangladesh’s foreign policy choices and domestic political calculations. It reconstructs bargaining episodes, evaluates technical proposals on lean-season augmentation, and explains why public opinion, media narratives and coalition incentives constrained the space for compromise. The study discusses institutional venues—from joint committees to expert groups—and the role of epistemic communities in translating hydrology into policy. It highlights distributional impacts across riverine districts, agriculture and ecology, demonstrating why national positions are filtered through local livelihoods. The article argues that effective diplomacy requires credible data sharing, drought-contingency protocols and investment roadmaps for conservation, while domestic consensus-building reduces the risk that agreements unravel during electoral cycles.

The body opens with a hydrological overview of the basin and seasonal variability, clarifying how upstream abstractions interact with rainfall and sedimentation. A second section traces the negotiation history, mapping shifts in leverage, third-party facilitation, and framing strategies used by each side. A third section analyzes domestic politics: how river-dependent constituencies influenced party manifestos; how bureaucratic turf and media debates shaped agenda-setting; and how civil society advocacy widened participation but sometimes hardened positions. The fourth section evaluates policy instruments—real-time monitoring, floodplain restoration, irrigation efficiency, and dry-season augmentation—estimating costs and political feasibility. The final section proposes a resilient package: transparent telemetry, independent audit of flows, adaptive allocation rules for lean years, and joint financing for conservation projects that deliver visible local benefits. Together these measures make cooperation durable, reduce litigation, and align ecological stewardship with development goals.