The Ganga Water Treaty between India and Bangladesh, signed in 1996, is up for renewal in December 2026. It was signed in an atmosphere of goodwill and neighbourliness by then Indian Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his counterpart in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina. Now, when the treaty must be re-negotiated, there is mistrust on both sides.

There is a BJP government at the Centre and in the upper riparian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal — the state where the Ganga forks at the Farakka Barrage, with one stem entering Bangladesh (the Padma) and another bending south towards Kolkata (the Bhagirathi-Hooghly).

The political colour of the upper riparian states matters because the rhetoric and political moves of the ruling BJP have lately been hostile to Bangladesh and Muslims on both sides of the border. Understandably, then, the goodwill of the past has evaporated, which puts the treaty in jeopardy.

Sanjay Jha, Janata Dal (U) MP from Bihar, has urged the Union government to not renew the treaty in its current form, asserting that the treaty has impacted the state negatively. His press note states: ‘Bihar is not seeking a favour. We are only asking for what our own scientific assessment establishes, so that 13 crore people are not left short of water for drinking, irrigation and industrial supply for another 30 years.’

Political parties in West Bengal agree on the need to renew the treaty but are divided on how to go about it. Silting, riverbank erosion and the navigability of Kolkata port are key concerns.

While in power, Mamata Banerjee had strongly opposed the Centre’s bilateral discussions that kept the state out of the loop. The current BJP dispensation in the state has little choice but to support the Centre’s stance on renewing the treaty while emphasising that national security and federal water management are Central mandates.

Also Read: India's border policy testing fragile reset with Bangladesh

The Opposition CPI(M) and Congress........

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