DHAKA, Jan 21, 2022 (BSS) - Indian water expert Jayanta Basu today

suggested taking nature-based negotiation approach to address the
long-pending Teesta water sharing dispute.

   "Between India and Bangladesh, there is no holistic basin-based
approach although both the countries share 54 transboundary rivers. A
holistic basin-based approach is needed to be taken" he said while
presenting a paper titled 'Geopolitics of River Teesta and need to
pursue Nature-based Negotiated Approach (NBNA)' on the second day of
three-day 7th International Water Conference 2022 being held
virtually.

  Jayanta Basu, an environment documentation expert and the director
of Environment Governed Integrated Organisation (EnGIO), said the
Nature Based Negotiated Approach to Integrated River Basin Management
(IRBM) is key in addressing the water conflicts like Teesta.

  He said the South Asian transboundary river issues are linked to
regional geopolitics as all the countries in the region strongly
depend on rivers mainly for agriculture, hydroelectricity and other
reasons.

  Unequal political power positioning in the region; influence of
international, national, and local political relationships; rivers and
climate change are the vital factors in regional geopolitics, the
Indian water expert said.

  Jayanta, also a teacher of Calcutta University, said upper riparian
versus lower riparian country narrative does not hold water in such a
dynamic water sharing paradigm and proposed for the holistic
inter-country stakeholder level discussion to arrive at a
comprehensive transboundary river water usage model.