India-China Trans-boundary Rivers Water Issue: Problem and Prospect

India and China are the few of the fastest growing economies on the earth. Experts and officials hold that both the countries may emerge as the world's economic super power in the next few decades. Though, there are a few stumbling blocks towards this end. The scarcity of water is one among such hurdles which has the potential to downturn the modernisation and developmental aspirations of both the Asian juggernauts. In such a scenario, China and India would be compelled to pursue an assertive policy towards the utilisation of trans-boundary rivers water. China's unilateral and non-transparent utilisation of shared rivers could have an overarching ramification for India's water rights. So serious is the issue that it was debated in the Parliament quite frequently since 2006; and the Prime Ministerial level statements express the significance of the issue in Sino-India bilateral relationships. Some geo-strategists claim that China's aggressive riparian policy could add to geopolitical distrust and disagreement among its co-riparian countries including that of India. It is therefore important to analyse a few strategies toward the fair, equitable and beneficial utilization of the international water which is in harmony with the customary water rights of a nation. The present paper is an attempt to analyse the political and security dimensions of India-China trans-boundary rivers water issue.