THE Prime Minister's optimism concerning his expected meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh at the upcoming summit of the Non Aligned Movement is heartening. The reiteration of his desire to maintain peaceful relations with neighbours, be it India and Afghanistan, would resonate well with the people of Pakistan, who have got more problems at home than to pursue a war of egos with foreign countries. But that does not mean we should let go of those issues that affect us directly, water and river management being near the top of the list. And Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi does not disappoint on this front. Complementing the Prime Minister's hope is Mr Qureshi's firm yet civil desire to make sure important issues are not put on the backburner. He is absolutely right when he says that the issue of water management will become a huge source of tension were it not resolved soon enough. The politics of water is going to become extremely complicated in a future not too far from now. The oft-quoted statement of a former UN Chief about the next war in the middle east being fought over water as opposed to oil is true but not only for the region he mentioned. Fighting over water has a curiously tribal feel to it. It is hoped that in the course of six thousand years of civilization, the comity of nations has finally evolved a methodology of a judicious solution to any water dispute between any two states. The issue of Kashmir, of course, has also correctly been identified as one central to the relations between the two states. It is hoped that the two South Asian neighbours can move towards effective and sustainable solutions for these complicated problems. The governments of these states owe this to the impoverished and wretched lot of their respective countries.