Water Wars | Laura Birkman in South China Morning Post on India-Pakistan conflict
Wars aren’t always fought with missiles and guns. Sometimes, the weapon is water. India demonstrated just how potent that weapon can be this month when it reduced the flow of a tributary river to Pakistan. “The likelihood of water becoming a driver of conflict is increasing,” Laura Birkman, director of the HCSS climate, water and food security programme, told the South China Morning Post. Without significant policy shifts – both in climate adaptation for vulnerable regions like Pakistan and northwest India, and in global strategies to manage climate-induced migration – the ripple effects will be severe.
