Pak-Afghan Hydro Diplomacy

Jul 17, 2016 | Syed Muhammad Abubakar
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Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have never been great. They have been subjected to various complexities over the past few decades — the issues in question being related to border disputes especially the recent skirmishes at Torkham border crossing, the 1978–to date war, the refugee crisis, Taliban insurgency and the increasingly friendly relations between India and Afghanistan. Among all these issues, the issue of water security has been greatly ignored.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share nine small and large rivers. Among these, the Kabul River, which flows into the Indus River in Pakistan, is the most important. This river is impounded by several dams. The Kabul River Basin which constitutes almost 12 per cent of Afghanistan’s territory and supports more than seven million people, accounts for about 26 per cent of Afghanistan’s total annual river flow. Afghanistan is currently utilising 1.8 Million Acre Feet (MAF) of water and its future water use is estimated to be 3.6MAF. The projected increased water use by Afghanistan can affect Pakistan’s dependence on these waters, and force both countries to negotiate mutually acceptable sharing of water resources.