Using freshwater resources to rehabilitate refugees and build transboundary cooperation

After the conflict between India and Pakistan upon their independence in 1947, India sought to use the Indus River to rehabilitate millions of refugees, reconstruct the economy, and facilitate post-conflict peacebuilding in Punjab. But this drew on the only freshwater available to Pakistan. The World Bank's mediation averted further conflict through the Indus Waters Treaty and the construction of hydrological infrastructure in order to subsidize post-conflict peacebuilding. The treaty established a commission and conflict-resolution mechanisms to manage disputes of the development of the Indus. Pakistan is using these mechanisms to address the current Kishanganga Project dispute with India. © 2011 International Water Resources Association.