Prime Minister Julia Gillard has this week announced a $12 million India-Australia Water Science and Technology Partnership over four years to enhance cooperation on water management.
Water security is one of South Asia's biggest long-term development challenges.
The Ganges River, for example, is the most populous river basin in the world and home to more than 400 million people across India, Nepal, Bangladesh and China. It is also one of the largest flood plains in the world. Most of the people of the Ganges basin live in poverty and depend on the river's water resources for their livelihoods and wellbeing.
The impacts of climate change on glacial melt and monsoonal variability, combined with population growth and urbanisation, could have profound long-term consequences for water availability and agricultural production in the Ganges basin.
Australia has significant experience in managing water for scarcity and basin-scale planning that is relevant to India and the wider region. The partnership will increase cooperation under the India-Australia Memorandum of Understanding on Water Resources Management (signed in 2009) and supports Australia's ongoing support for long-term water security and climate change initiatives in South Asia.
The partnership will support technology transfer and scientific cooperation to help improve the management of water resources. It is supported by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in collaboration with other technical institutions, and will bring together experts on water management in both India and Australia.
The partnership is part of Australia's regional work in South Asia on water resource management and climate change, which is helping to improve the lives of millions of poor people and support long-term sustainable development.
The United Nations has declared 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation.