When do institutions work? A comparison of two water disputes over the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna river basins Lei Xie a , Muhammad Mizanur Rahaman b and Wei Shen c a Corresponding author. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road 11A, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China E-mail: lei.xieavoine@gmail.com b University of Asia Pacific, 74/A, Green Road, Farmgate, Dhaka 1215, Bangladesh c Institute of Development Studies, Library Road, Brighton BN1 9RE, UK Abstract This article investigates the motives and incentives that drive countries’ diplomatic efforts in water disputes. It aims to identify links between the formation of water management institutions (WMIs) and the outcomes of such institutional cooperation. Three features have been identified as key to the effectiveness of WMIs: (1) the devel- opment of trust; (2) sanctions aimed at curbing cheating; and (3) the balancing of different countries’ interests over shared waters. This article conducts a comparative analysis of the formation of institutional arrangements among three riparian states by focusing on two cases: water interactions between China and India, and between India and Bangladesh. It argues that India, China and Bangladesh have exhibited different preferences in regard to their par- ticipation in WMIs. The two cases illustrate how different WMIs are formed and also how, in proportion to variations in the level of competition over water quantity, diplomatic cooperation through environmental agree- ments can lead to different outcomes with varying degrees of success. This article concludes that in the context of the global South, where foreign relations are unstable and countries’ reliance on river basins varied, building trust and balancing interests over water management are especially important to the formation of effective institutional arrangements. Keywords: Bangladesh; China; Conflict resolution; India; Power; Water management 1. Introduction Recent years have witnessed a growth in water disputes linked to the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, which collectively form one of the largest water basins in the world, the Ganges-Brah- maputra-Meghna (GBM). The GBM is regarded as one of the least coordinated river systems in the world (ICA, 2012), not least due to its crossing of national boundaries between China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and India, some of whose inhabitants are among the poorest in the world Water Policy 20 (2018) 308–322 doi: 10.2166/wp.2017.149 © IWA Publishing 2018 Downloaded from http://iwaponline.com/wp/article-pdf/20/2/308/204197/020020308.pdf by guest on 14 February 2022