Whatever the causes, Bangladesh cannot wait indefinitely. It must build damage-reducing infrastructure without delay. This does not replace a water-sharing settlement; it reduces damage while politics drags on, and it must be designed with geo-politics in mind.
Turning water into a nationalist symbol may mobilize sentiment, but it has never produced water -- and it has often delayed the reordering of ties that scarcity now makes unavoidable.
The India-Bangladesh relationship is undergoing not rupture, but delayed normalization. Bangladesh is asserting the right to disagree without permission. India is confronting the limits of informal hegemony