The South Asian Insider

China reiterates stand on Brahmaputra dam project, says it will help India, Bangladesh

(Staff Reporter) China reiterated its stand on Tuesday to build dam project in upstream belt of Brahmaputra in its own territory, saying it will “help” downstream countries, including India and Bangladesh, with their “disaster prevention and reduction and climate response”. In a statement, Chinese spokesperson Yu Jing said Beijing’s decision to build the hydropower project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo (the name of Brahmaputra before entering India) was made after rigorous scientific evaluation.
“The project will not have a negative impact on the ecological environment, geological conditions and the rights and interests related to water resources of downstream countries,” she said. She further added rather the China’sdam project “to some extent, help with their disaster prevention and reduction and climate response.” Earlier, India has raised its concern over the China’s dam building project in upstream belt of Brahmaputra.India’s reaction came nearly two months after New Delhi and Beijing reached an understanding in October last year on the troop disengagement along “friction points” on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
This development followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meet on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia’s Kazan in October last year. The meet was aimed to chalk out mechanisms for revival of normal bilateral relations.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during a press briefing, last week, had said that the matter was formally taken up with China. Jaiswal referred about the China’s plan to build a hydropower project on Tsangpo in the Tibet and said the matter was taken up with Beijing to emphasise on the need for consultations with downstream countries.

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