The 30-year Ganges water-sharing treaty between Bangladesh and India expires this December. Neither government has yet said whether the existing pact will be renewed or replaced, but their respective ministries confirm that technical teams from both sides have begun preliminary work. Disagreements persist on several points, sources say.
A senior water resources ministry official, speaking anonymously, said: “The core disagreement is the basis of flow. India wants a framework built around the Farakka point; Bangladesh insists on sharing water based on the entire river. Another government priority is revising the deal in light of the 1977 Memorandum of Understanding.”
River researchers argue that equity demands the whole river’s flow, not just from the Farakka point, serve as the water-sharing basis. They suggest rather than limiting the framework to a bilateral Bangladesh–India accord, a trilateral agreement involving Bangladesh, India and Nepal should be considered covering the entire Ganges basin.
Professor AKM Saiful Islam of BUET’s Institute of Water and Flood Management told Bonik Barta: “The current accord distributes water based on flow at Farakka. But roughly 975 barrages upstream on the Ganges draw off water before it reaches that point, making fair sharing impossible. Even residents on the Indian side of Farakka complain they don’t get a fair share because upstream barrages divert water.” He said a basin-wide water-sharing arrangement including Nepal could settle the matter, noting that many successful international treaties are built on whole river basins.
The Farakka Barrage sits 18 km upstream of Bangladesh’s Chapainawabganj district, in the West Bengal districts of Malda and Murshidabad. It has provoked resentment for nearly 75 years. When India first drew up plans for the barrage in 1951, opposition flared in what was then East Bengal.
Since independence, Dhaka and New Delhi have struck five short- and long-term Ganges water-sharing pacts. A 1973 roundtable decided that Farakka would only be activated after a final agreement on water sharing was reached. In 1975, Bangladesh consented for the first time to a 40-day trial withdrawal, from April 2 to May 31. India commissioned the barrage fully before any final deal and continued drawing water even after the trial period ended, later increasing the water withdrawal.
In May 1976, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, then 96 years old, led a long march towards Farakka demanding a fair share. The call jolted the country. The issue regained urgency. Ziaur Rahman raised it at the 31st UN General Assembly, and the UN recommended a bilateral resolution.
In 1977, the two countries signed a five-year water-sharing treaty. Its centrepiece was a guarantee clause that assured Bangladesh at least 80 percent of the previous flow during the dry season.
When the treaty expired in 1982, President Hussain Muhammad Ershad was in office. He visited India that year and signed a two-year memorandum of understanding, but the guarantee clause was discarded. On November 22, 1985, a three-year memorandum followed. Once it lapsed without a successor, India again increased its water withdrawal from the Ganges.
In 1996, the Awami League government revived talks on sharing the Ganges. That December, Bangladesh and India signed a 30-year water-sharing treaty. During the dry season —January 1 to May 31 — if the river’s flow drops to 70,000 cusecs or less, the two countries would split the water equally. When flows range between 70,000 and 75,000 cusecs, Bangladesh would receive 35,000 cusecs and India would get the remainder. Above 75,000 cusecs, India would take 40,000 cusecs and the rest would flow to Bangladesh.
River researcher Mahabub Siddiqui said the Ganges treaty was “flawed from the start”, but without it Bangladesh’s water supply would become even more precarious. “Projects like the Padma Barrage would also be threatened,” he said. Siddiqui urged Dhaka to start working on the matter now. “Securing a fair share of water requires including Nepal alongside India,” he argued, “because five Nepalese rivers supply most of the Ganges flow. If Bangladesh can’t reach a consensus with India while safeguarding its rights, it should approach international bodies including the United Nations.”
An analysis of the five agreements or MoUs signed to date shows Bangladesh’s share of the Ganges has declined steadily. Other subcontinental water-sharing pacts consider the river’s total flow and oblige upstream countries to disclose all barrages, dams and embankments. The Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan also follows this principle. But those issues remain unaddressed in the Ganges treaty. India provides Bangladesh only with data from the Farakka Barrage, even though it has built several other barrages and dams upstream that choke the river’s natural flow before it reaches Farakka.
Bangladesh’s central charge against the Farakka Barrage is that it has dried up the Padma, devastating livelihoods and farming across huge swathes of the country. In March 2025, experts from both countries met to discuss renewal and related issues. Technical teams conducted a two-day field survey of the Ganges flow at Farakka. At the 86th meeting in Kolkata of the India-Bangladesh Joint Committee under the Joint Rivers Commission, the two sides reviewed the survey data. But the diplomatic downturn under Bangladesh’s previous interim government stalled any real progress on treaty renewal.
The BNP-led government, elected in February this year, took office and immediately faced the question of renewing the Ganges water-sharing treaty or negotiating a replacement. That same month, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Lok Sabha that Delhi had yet to begin talks with Dhaka on the matter. A West Bengal government delegation has, however, participated in inter-ministerial meetings on the issue. For Bangladesh, international relations specialists argue, the decisive factor will be the strength of bilateral ties, and extending the existing pact is a better option than having none at all.
Former ambassador Humayun Kabir told Bonik Barta: “In the current political, economic and climate realities, extending or renewing the Ganges treaty is Bangladesh’s safest and most realistic strategy. Over the past three decades, the treaty has worked by and large, and the joint water monitoring mechanism has been effective. The treaty’s greatest advantage is water certainty. Bangladesh has already embarked on the ambitious Padma Barrage project; its success depends on a long-term assured water supply. The longer that certainty can be locked in without disruption, the more Bangladesh’s interests are protected.”
Pushing for a wholly new treaty rather than a renewal, Kabir warned, carried serious risk: “We could certainly try to amend the treaty to secure more favourable terms. But we must recognise that river water is now being wielded as a strategic geopolitical instrument. Against such a sensitive backdrop, reopening the agreement in full would carry significant risks. Sources indicate India is now signalling it may reduce water share. If we table new demands, they will counter, trapping us in an interminable and complex negotiation. On balance, preserving the treaty’s continuity for as long as possible is Bangladesh’s best option.”
Farhad Hossain Azad, the state minister for water resources, told Bonik Barta: “We’re holding successive inter-ministerial meetings on the Ganges treaty. We’re also in touch with the Indian government through various channels. Our core objective is to secure an agreement based on the 1977 accord signed by former President Ziaur Rahman, or something better. Separately, on the prime minister’s directive, we’ve already given in-principle approval to the Padma Barrage project as an alternative safeguard for the future. We’re also discussing Farakka. I’m hopeful India will conclude a good agreement to improve relations with the people of Bangladesh, setting a positive example of bilateral friendship.”
Talks on renewing the Ganges water-sharing treaty are underway and a Bangladeshi technical team is on site, Water Resources Minister Md Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee said yesterday.
“Both sides are in discussion. A technical team from Bangladesh is there. It conducts regular site visits two or three times a year and reviews technical matters. Today (Friday), it held a meeting with the relevant party, inspected the site and held detailed discussions,” he told Bonik Barta. “The team will submit a full report upon its return.”
The minister said securing renewal and continuity of the Ganges treaty this year was directly tied to Bangladesh’s interests. India, too, has its own interests, and talks were proceeding on the basis of friendly bilateral relations.
“I expect a final report will be ready soon, and the treaty will then be concluded as hoped,” he said.
Chowdhury said Dhaka believed inserting a “guarantee clause” into the treaty would fully protect the national interest.
“We hope the existing friendly relations will endure. Bangladesh also wants to place the highest importance on this friendship,” he said. “We want the positive aspects of the previous treaty to be retained, and a new guarantee clause added to show due respect for Bangladesh’s interests.”