China’s projects on the Brahmaputra cause worry
It would be naïve to take China's assurance at face value that it does not wish to disturb the flow of the river or obstruct India's programme to construct dams and other projects along the Brahmaputra river. The fact is that China is on an overdrive, carrying out a series of what have been termed as ‘run-of-the-river projects' in the middle reaches of the river on its territory, and that will certainly impact India's plans to tap the river for water and energy needs. Although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had reportedly raised the issue with China's new leader, Mr Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the recently concluded BRICS summit in Durban in South Africa, there has been no assurance from Beijing that can be believed. It must be remembered that, while China has repeatedly assured India that it does not propose to harm the status quo and that its projects will not harm India's interests, it has continued with even greater vigour on its massive programme along the Brahmaputra. It is clear that Beijing is determined to proceed with the various projects regardless of New Delhi's concerns. It is in this context that the recent observation of the Inter-Ministerial Group on the Brahmaputra that the activities of the Chinese must be carefully monitored, should be taken with gravity. India must not just monitor the developments closely but also more effectively raise the matter with Beijing. The problem so far has been that we seem to accept China's explanations without question, and then hope that the best will come out of it. That has clearly not been happening, as the IMG has discovered. The Group has identified and reported as many as 39 sites and projects that China is involved in at present along the river; this is an increase from the 36 sites the IMG had documented in an earlier report. The findings are a clear indication that China is not just going ahead with the dam and other construction projects but also adding to their numbers, regardless of India's reservations on the matter. The only explanation for Beijing's duplicity on the issue is that India has not protested strongly enough or, if it has, it has not responded strongly enough after the protests fell on deaf ears. Unless New Delhi changes its approach, China will continue to cock a snook.
The issue is not just one of a change in the dynamics of the river through China's aggressive push along the Brahmaputra and the impact it will have on the various hydro-projects that India has in mind if large amounts of water from the river are impounded by China. There is the security angle as well. According to the IMG, three of China's major dam projects are barely 550 km from the Indian border. With the border dispute still alive between the two countries, any development that adds men and material along the sensitive zone is bound to arouse suspicion. Seen along with various other initiatives that China has undertaken near the border, its hydro-projects are a cause of worry.