The RSIS Centre for NTS Studies, in collaboration with the Strategic Foresight Group (SFG), organised the Workshop on the ‘Benefits of Cooperation in the Himalayan River Basins Countries of Bangladesh, China, India and Nepal’. This workshop, held on 3 December 2010 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Singapore, examined the critical issue of water security. It was an opportunity for participants to discuss transboundary water issues and the potential of and benefits for regional cooperation on issues that affect the Himalayan River Basins countries. The topic of water security is critical as it has ramifications on social, political and other security issues.

 

The workshop funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is part of the Asia Security Initiative which seeks to promote new and comprehensive concepts of security in Asia. The Strategic Foresight Group has defined the emerging water situation as an important driver of Asian security in the 21st century. The SFG report ‘The Himalayan Challenge’ was released at the Singapore International Water Week in June 2010 and has been reviewed by almost 100 newspapers and online publications from around the world. Two workshops were held earlier. The first was held in August 2009 in Kathmandu. It was co-hosted by SFG and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The second was held in Dhaka in January 2010 and was co-hosted by SFG and the Bangladesh Institute for Security Studies. This joint workshop in Singapore co-hosted by the RSIS Centre for NTS Studies and SFG was the third in the series. Participants include former cabinet ministers, senior policy advisers, heads of prominent research institutes and leading media personalities from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, China and Singapore. Mr Tan Gee Paw, Chairman of Public Utilities Board, Singapore, delivered the inaugural address and shared Singapore's experience in sustainable water management. The workshop is expected to contribute to discourse on collaborative approaches to non-traditional security in Asia.

 

Click here for the workshop programme. 

The workshop was open to invited participants only.