- Friday, January 17, 2025
New Delhi has urged Beijing to ensure that the interests of downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas
By: shajil kumar
DEFENCE MINISTER Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the government is on alert regarding China’s plan to construct a mega dam on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, close to its border with India.
Days after China announced its plan to construct the world’s largest dam on the Brahmaputra, India said it will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect its interests.
New Delhi has also urged Beijing to ensure that the interests of downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas.
“The Indian government is on alert,” the defence minister said during an event here when asked about the dam.
Singh was in Agra to attend the 57th state-level meet of Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh organised at the city’s Mufeed-e-Aam Inter College.
Last month, China approved plans to build a dam over the Brahmaputra River called Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet close to the Indian border.
As per the plan, the massive dam will be built at a huge gorge in the Himalayan reaches where the Brahmaputra makes a huge U-turn to flow into Arunachal Pradesh and then to Bangladesh.
In its first reaction to the proposed dam on Jan 3, India urged China to ensure that the interests of downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas.
“We will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told media in Delhi.
“As a lower riparian state with established user rights to the waters of the river, we have consistently expressed, through expert-level as well as diplomatic channels, our views and concerns to the Chinese side over mega projects on rivers in their territory,” Jaiswal said. (PTI)
