The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basins contain the largest number of the world's poor in any one region. The population is increasing steadily, and unless the current development trends are broken, poverty will become even more pervasive. Here, it is suggested that, water could be successfully used as the engine to promote economic development of the region, which has been hindered because the most populous part of the basin is shared by three countries: Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, who have in the past been unable to agree to an integrated development plan.