On October 21, 2019, the EastWest Institute (EWI), together with the Multinational Development Policy Dialogue of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), convened a high-level roundtable dialogue in Brussels, concerning international water security. 

The dialogue, the first in the project series, brought together distinguished experts representing both the public and private sectors in China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the European Union to assess the risks and threats to water security and gauge opportunities for future cooperation between co-riparian states in the Himalayan region. The roundtable dialogue consisted of two panels: “Rethinking Hydrodiplomacy in an Uncertain Geopolitical Future,” moderated by Ms. Kitty Pilgrim, international journalist and former CNN correspondent, and “Effective Water Resource Governance through Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships,” moderated by Dr. Peter Hefele, head of the Asia and Pacific team of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). 

Experts 

Dr. Nilanjan Ghosh
Director, Kolkata Chapter, Observer Research Foundation 

Mr. Dipak Gyawali
Former Minister of Water Resources of Nepal 

Mr. Ikram Sehgal
Chairman, Pathfinder Group; former Chairman, Karachi Electric 

Ms. Carmen Marques Ruiz
Policy Officer for Environment and Water, European External Action Service 

Dr. Hu Yuandong
Former Chief Representative, Investment and Technology Promotion Office for China, United Nations Industrial Development Organization 

Dr. Jayanta Bandyopadhyay
Visiting Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation 

Dr. Khondaker Azharul Haq
Chairperson, Global Water Partnership South Asia 

Acknowledgements 

EWI, with the support of its partners, will continue to mobilize and engage key experts, policy makers and stakeholders in timely and discreet dialogue on the most pressing challenges of international water insecurity. 

This inaugural EWI roundtable dialogue on water security in the Himalayan Region was made possible through the partnership and generous support of the Multinational Policy Development Dialogue of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Brussels, Belgium.