On July 21 2025, when Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced the start of construction of the Motuo hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo, a wave of anger and concern swept over India.
In 1995, Ismail Serageldin, the former vice president of the World Bank, famously said: “If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water - unless we change our approach to managing this precious and vital resource.”
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“I’m not saying there’s not going to be a water war one day. Maybe there will be. But what I will say is we have a record of 800 water treaties between people who don’t like each other, and we have very little record of actual violence across borders, specifically over water,” says Wolf.
Very interesting! Let’s hope he’s right.
