From securitization to security complex: climate change, water security and the India–China relations

Interstate and intrastate linkage of water security and climate change in India and China has significantly impacted the two states’ relations, particularly over their shared transboundary river water. Being an upstream riparian state, China enjoys an advantageous position that extends it a significant edge to regulate the flow of the Brahmaputra River. China’s unilateral moves to build dams, and unwillingness to negotiate any water sharing agreement with the downstream neighbor or agreeing to have bilateral/regional bodies for effective transboundary water governance of the river, raise serious water security concerns for the Indian policymakers. By employing ‘securitization’ and ‘security complex’ theories, we argue that the securitization of climate change policy at the national level—particularly in the domain of water—not only increases the prospects of conflict formation and security dilemma between India and China but also draws them into traditional security complex that diminishes their prospects to secure a negotiated transboundary river water sharing agreement in the near future.