New Delhi
16 June 2011
India has not felt the need for a bilateral river waters sharing agreement with
China similar to the Indus waters treaty with Pakistan, a government source said,
implying that the present arrangement is adequate.
The response should be seen in the context of a sentiment voiced in quasi-official
circles that a formal pact with China would not only serve the interests of water security
by codifying the rights, responsibilities and obligations of the parties concerned, but
also allay the fears of the people living in India's north-eastern states if China
indiscriminately built hydro-electric projects on its side of the Brahmaputra.
Amplifying New Delhi's position, the source said that India and China have established
an expert-level mechanism to discuss water issues, which meets annually. It comprises
officials from the Indian ministries of water resources and external affairs, and their
Chinese counterparts. The fifth meeting of this mechanism concluded in Beijing in April
this year. Also, for the last nearly three years, the Chinese side has been sharing data of
three rivers, including Brahmaputra, twice a day with India, between June and September
of every year.
It was pointed out that the average annual flow at the point the Brahmaputra enters
Bangladesh is larger than at the point it enters the Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh,
which implied that there is ample scope for Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to "harness
and utilise the waters of the Brahmaputra", as the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said
in its June 14 statement. Water is a state subject in India.
The source went on to assert that the basis for New Delhi's assertion, that the dam being
built at Zangmu in Tibet is a run of the river hydro-electric project which does not store
water, and, therefore, will not adversely impact the downstream areas in India, is high-
calibre Indian satellite imagery. Incidentally, ascertaining facts from indigenous sources
indicates that India has graduated from a position of relying merely on Chinese
assurances to making determinations on its own.
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