Ambassador A.N. Ram, former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs has emphasised the need to look into the best practices of regional cooperation for resolving the diverse nature of problems in SAARC nations.
Inaugurating the two-day international conference on ‘Water Sharing in SAARC Region: Legal Issues and Challenges’ at NALSAR University of Law here on Saturday, he said that whether it was drugs or terrorism and water sharing, one should look into the best practices in similar regional arrangements.
Water Management
He advised the participants to prepare and adopt a charter for Water Management in the SAARC Region.
Prof. B. C.Upreti, Member, Prime Minister’s Eminent Persons Group, GoI and a renowned South Asian scholar delivered the keynote address. He explained the nature of India’s relation vis-a-vis its fellow neighbours in the SAARC with a special focus on the water sharing and management issues. The existing bilateral and multilateral water treaties in view of the changing dynamics of the geo-political situation in SAARC should be reviewed, he said.
Key issues
NALSAR Vice-Chancellor Faizan Mustafa highlighted the recent achievements of the university in drafting various legislations for the State of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the Centre.
During the inaugural sessions, speakers raised various key issues pertaining to regional water resources such as profiles of South Asian water bodies, sources of water-sharing disputes, bilateral and multilateral instruments of water management, water as a source of regional energy security, sustainable and ecological dimensions of water resources.
Delegates from across the universities in the country and from other SAARC countries including professors from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, advocates and students working in the area of SAARC including South Asian University, New Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies, Hyderabad are attending the conference.
