The allegation against India being a bully in water sharing with Bangladesh has certain realties in it but such matters have a history of complexities behind them. The fact that India has occupied an upstream position on shared rivers gives it a strong bargaining power. Bangladesh, on the other hand, happens to lie downstream and thus, usually comes at the mercy of that power play. That often leads to conflict during times such as drought or flooding, where such water management decisions in India would affect serious consequences on Bangladesh.

But even so, India and Bangladesh have signed a number of bilateral memorandums for cooperation regarding water resources. They haven’t quite resolved matters; rather, India generally cites its own domestic needs, in some of these regions, connected to these rivers-for instance, West Bengal-from having its water management decisions justified.

So, even though Bangladesh’s concerns are pretty valid, the entire picture is not one-sided. The two countries must sit together and evolve means, which would result in sustainable solutions to meet the needs of both populations.