ABSTRACT
Geography has been said to be the matrix of history. Environment, in turn, is affected by people, increasingly so in the modern times. We briefly review the current sociopolitical scene. A brief historical perspective is given, as the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) area provides the foundations of India’s sociopolitical economic history. We briefly describe the people and identify the population dynamics and projections. The political scene after Independence, which is going to shape the environment of the future and vice versa, is next reviewed for each of the riparian countries. Then, the economic scene is also reviewed briefly. Finally, an overview on the infrastructure and services, including the energy, agriculture, and industrial scenes, is given. The historical sociocultural settings still strongly influence the management of the economy and the environment.
