Outcome Report: Mekong-Brahmaputra Conversation

Lack of connectivity initiatives has long frustrated regional trade in South Asia. Of late, nation states in this region are seen to intensify and harmonise their efforts in deriving mileage out of the complementaries that perpetuate the geo-economic landscape of the region. In order to ensure improved livelihood opportunities for the people and to achieve Sustainable Development Goals the concerned countries also appreciate the urgency of better water resource management in the region. To that end the need to harness the biodiversity of the river basins beyond political boundaries can hardly be exaggerated. The Brahmaputra(Jamuna) river flowing through India and Bangladesh (part of the Brahmaputra Meghna Basin) and the Mekong river in Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam , both originate in China. They are transboundary rivers that shape the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the respective countries. The Mekong region has a history of regional cooperation amongst the nation states though frameworks such as ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and MRC (Mekong regional Cooperation).. As a part of the MRC framework, regional cooperation over the Mekong river has made further progress. While significant developmental activities have happened around the Mekong river, challenges persist. The more recent Mekong Council Study is an initiative towards an integrated, crosssectoral, comprehensive and state-of-the-art study bent on ensuring sustainable development in the Mekong Basin and focusing on cooperation among the MRC Member Countries – Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam, to that end. The North Eastern region of India comprises a substantial part of the Brahmaputra basin, and is presently evolving strategies of regional cooperation. The Act East Policy of the government of India is an overarching policy framework aspiring to enhance connectivity of the north - east of India to the South East Asian and Bay of Bengal region while at the same time developing the region itself by putting into optimum use its rich water and biodiversity and human resource potential. Developments of the National Waterway 2 on Brahmaputra and Meghna Basin and the India Bangladesh Protocol route seek to connect the land locked states in north east India to the Bay of Bengal. Multimodal connectivity projects under initiatives such as BIMSTEC, India Myanmar Thailand Trilateral highway (IMT), BBIN are also underway as game changing initiatives. The other sub-regional initiative, Bangladesh China India Myanmar (BCIM) Forum for Regional Cooperation, is yet to gather much traction on the ground. Such initiatives will need to address multiple issues such as flood control, challenges of agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture practices, watershed/ springshed rejuvenation, forestry management and their effects on riverine communities.