On 19th November 2017, Pro Public in association with ielo (Indian Environment Law Organization) kicked the Shared Watercourses Summit off at Hotel Annapurna in Kathmandu in presence of the representatives of the government, eminent personalities from Nepal and India, prominent water resource experts, media and stakeholders of the brans-boundary water governance project both from Nepal and Indian territories of Khando and Pandai Rivers Basin.

In the summit, opening plenary and sessions were organized under different and relevant themes by engaging the thematic experts and project stakeholders. The major themes included:
Opening Plenary: Strategic Overview and Emerging opportunities for India-Nepal cooperation on water resources – Considering recent developments to streamline cooperation between India and Nepal, this session will explore strategic issues and emerging opportunities as entry points for improving water cooperation and governance regime of shared basins; Chaired by Dr Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, Chairperson, Eminent Persons Group, – Nepal- India Relations (EPG-NIR), Nepal and Panelists were:

• Prof. S.D. Muni, Ambassador, Emeritus Professor JNU, and Distinguished Fellow, Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, India
• Dipak Gyawali, Pragya, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Nepal
• Prof. Mahendra P Lama, Member, Eminent Persons Group-Nepal India Relations, Founding Vice Chancellor, Sikkim University, India (Chengdu)
• Dr. Jagadish C. Pokharel, Former Vice-Chairman, National Planning Commission, Nepal

Similarly, discussions were conducted in the following sessions:

1. Mainstreaming community perspectives into formal water cooperation instruments between India and Nepal: A legal perspective
2. Engineering Response to the Governance of Indo-Nepal Shared watercourses (Can engineering as a socio-technical activity improve the governance of dynamic river systems shared by India and Nepal?)
3. Role of Civil Society and Grassroots institutions in improving the governance of shared watercourses (CSOs from Nepal and India involved in the study to make the opening presentation of 5 min each on trans-boundary water management challenges in shared Gandak and Kosi River Basin)
4. The Case of Meandering-Minor Rivers Opening statements by representatives from Khado (Koshi Basin) and Pandai Rivers (Gandak Basin)
5. Role of regional platforms and institutions in improving India Nepal water cooperation