Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Nepal’s catastrophic flooding underscores the need for regional cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping plans a trip to India with a delegation of 400, and an international court of arbitration rules against India on the Indus Waters Treaty.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Nepal’s catastrophic flooding underscores the need for regional cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping plans a trip to India with a delegation of 400, and an international court of arbitration rules against India on the Indus Waters Treaty.

Flood Disaster Should Spur Cooperation

A week after catastrophic flooding in Nepal along the border with Tibet, the death toll continues to mount. More than 1,100 people have died, according to government figures, with nearly 4,000 still missing. The floods, triggered by a glacier collapse and landslide, are to this point Nepal’s deadliest natural disaster since the 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people.

Even as Nepal’s government conducts rescue and recovery operations and other countries send aid, it’s worth considering how the tragedy might shape future national and regional policy. These floods will no doubt provide strong incentives for Nepal to work more closely with its neighbors to try to reduce future threats.

Admittedly, this might seem unrealistic. Nepal and its neighbors are no stranger to deadly natural disasters, and none has spurred more regional cooperation to reduce their destructive effects. South Asia is notoriously uncooperative, with governments often contending with diplomatic tensions and disputed borders. This is why trade and connectivity are in short supply.

But two factors give cause for hope. One is that an effective regional organization that can provide an institutional mechanism for such cooperation already exists. Nepal is home to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), which comprises the eight states of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and focuses on developing and sharing research among its members.

The ICIMOD has a solid track record, despite a fractious membership that includes India, Pakistan, and........

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