India and Pakistan share environmental challenges but not solutions.

ISLAMABAD: Suffocating smog, extreme heat and devastating floods — India and Pakistan share similar environmental challenges, according to experts, presenting a rare but unreal opportunity for cooperation.

Neighboring countries are suffocated every winter by the pollution haze that crosses their borders. The countries, together accounting for a fifth of the world’s population, often blame each other for spreading smog in their own regions.

But pollution in Pakistan’s eastern and most populous province of Punjab reached record highs this year, prompting the regional government to take an unusual step toward “regional climate diplomacy.” India has not commented and whether they will unite to face a common enemy remains to be seen. However, experts agree that both countries cannot deal with environmental threats in isolation. “We are geographically, ecologically and culturally the same people and share the same climate challenges,” said Abid Umar, founder of the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI). “We have to work across borders,” he told AFP.

India and Pakistan are at the mercy of extreme weather, which scientists say is increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change. In both countries, nearly half of the people live below the poverty line, a situation where climate disasters can be devastating. “One would like to think that an immediate shared threat would bring the two sides closer together,” Michael Kogelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, told AFP. “The problem is, it’s not.”

But India, one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, and Pakistan, the smallest, have never shared their environmental laws, school or traffic closures, or technology and data. Indian economist and climate expert Alka Kelkar highlighted the potential of collaborating on electric vehicle technology to suit the needs of South Asia. “In our countries, it is two-wheelers and three-wheelers that most people use,” he told AFP. “So the research and development of vehicle technologies, battery technologies that are appropriate for our road conditions, hot climate, our passenger use — that’s the kind of discussion and co-development that can happen.”

Experts say that geopolitical rivalry is so deep that mistrust undermines any chance of cooperation. PAQI partnered with an Indian counterpart in 2019 to compare results by installing similar air pollution sensors in each other’s countries. While breathing toxic air has devastating health effects, the one-year project was not renewed.

They regularly discuss a key climate issue: sharing rights to the Indus River, which bisects Pakistan but is fed by tributaries in India. However, according to Indian media, the geopolitical situation in September saw New Delhi lobbying Islamabad to revise its water-sharing agreement, citing cross-border militant attacks.