From the edges of borders: reflections on water diplomacy in South Asia

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the pitfalls of macro-narrative on water diplomacy in South Asia which remains hostage to a strategic-geo-political construct. Building on critical approaches to water diplomacy, it presents the concept of ‘water communities’, which inhabit the borderlands of South Asia. Such an approach is not only useful in rooting water diplomacy in the concept of water communities but can also add a layered scalar understanding to water diplomacy through a ‘water plus’ approach. Apart from documented stories on cooperation, personal interviews 1 were conducted for highlighting the micro-narratives from the Himalayan borderlands of Bhutan, India and Nepal.