India carefully monitoring developments on Brahmaputra river by China, says MEA

On ongoing LAC standoff in Ladakh, both sides have agreed to have another round of Senior Commanders meeting at ‘appropriate time’, says MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

The national flags of China and India | Representational Image | Photo: Dhiraj Singh | Bloomberg

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing India-China standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, New Delhi Thursday said it is “carefully” monitoring developments on the Brahmaputra river in the wake of reports that Beijing could build dams on it. 

The Brahmaputra river, known as Yarlung Zangbo Jiang in China, flows from Tibet to Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, before finally entering Bangladesh.

“We have taken note of some media reports in this regard. Government carefully monitors all developments on the Brahmaputra river,” said Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), during a media briefing.

“As a lower riparian State with considerable established user rights to the waters of the trans-border rivers, government has consistently conveyed its views and concerns to the Chinese authorities and has urged them to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed by any activities in upstream areas,” he added.

Srivastava said the Chinese side “has conveyed to us on several occasions that they are only undertaking run-of-the-river hydropower projects, which do not involve diversion of the waters of the Brahmaputra”.

He also said various issues relating to trans-border rivers are discussed with China under an expert-level mechanism that was established in 2006, apart from diplomatic channels.

“We intend to remain engaged with China on the issue of trans-border rivers to safeguard our interests,” Srivastava added.

Meanwhile, India has said it also plans to construct a “big” dam on the Brahmaputra river in order to counter China’s plans.

Communication on through diplomatic, military channels

This comes amid the standoff between India and China in Ladakh, which has been going on since April and had resulted in the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in June at the Galwan Valley.

According to the MEA, the two sides continue to maintain communication through diplomatic and military channels with the objective of “ensuring complete disengagement in all friction points along the LAC in the Western sector, and full restoration of peace and tranquility”.

“Both sides have agreed to have another round of Senior Commanders meeting at an appropriate time. As and when we have more information, we will share it with you,” Srivastava added.