Hydro-politics in Iran and Afghanistan: An Overview
Abstract
This paper is an overview of the water issue that is escalating for past few years both in Iran and Afghanistan. There is no such dispute that has been ever reported between these two countries that are on the territory unlike the regional countries with the likes of Pakistan and India. The basic issue that is compromising the relationship of these two countries is the water from Helmand River. Both the countries are almost landlocked countries and they have very few resources through which they can complete their need for water and hence the Helmand River is important for both of the countries. Both the countries are building dams without proper research. They are bent on building more dams and wells without authentication of environmental institutes which is a major cause of the environmental change in the area. Both the countries are harvesting crops which are not suitable for the environment and hence they have a very low production rate. It is very important for both of these countries to come to agreements and solutions for their disputes as it will clarify a lot of issues between these countries. The United States of America played an important role and tried to bring both the countries on the same page. This was important to assure peace in the area and help these two countries to come up to an agreement.
Authors
Prof. Dr. Iram Khalid
Chairperson, Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Sitwat Zahra
Ph. D. Scholar, Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan