IANS

Abu Dhabi, Oct 24: Officals of seven South Asian countries met here Oct 22-23 to promote water cooperation on the rivers of greater Himalayan region, WAM news agency reported.

Government officials, politicians and water experts from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan participated in the conference.

The theme of the meeting was "First International Conference on Southern Asia Water Cooperation".

"Around 40 percent of the world's population and 50 percent of the farm land depend on more than 245 rivers (in the region). Despite this fact, there are no international agreements that govern the use of these resources," Mohammed Al Bowardi, managing director of Abu Dhabi environment agency (EAD) said at the conference Thursday.

"This drives us to be even more careful with he management and distribution of these important resources to avoid conflict among countries with shared borders," he said.

"I would like to take this opportunity to invite all participants in this dialogue to develop the necessary frameworks to contribute to global efforts to protect our natural resources and to mitigate the effects of climate change, because of their significant environmental, economic and political impact," he added.