What Chinas plans for downstream dams on the Brahmaputra mean for India | The Hindu In Focus Podcast

Published: March 10, 2021, 8:01 a.m.

In today\u2019s episode we\u2019re discussing China\u2019s plans to build a major hydropower project on the Brahmaputra river and it\u2019s a topic that because of the geopolitical situation between the two countries, assumes a strategic context. Here\u2019s the story so far:\nChina has made public a plan to build a dam\xa0in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo river before it crosses the border from Tibet into Arunachal Pradesh and flows on to become the Brahmaputra. The project is mentioned in the draft of China's new five-year plan, which is set to be passed in the National People's Congress, the country's ceremonial legislature.\nWhile China has one operational hydropower project and three others under development in the upper and middle parts of the river, previous plans for a dam in the lower reaches had failed to be cleared. But the inclusion of this project now in the five year plan suggests that it has got a go ahead and it will mark a new chapter in the hydropower exploitation of the river.\nWhat are the details of this project that we know of and what should India\u2019s concerns be, if any? Water sharing as we know, is always a politically sensitive issue, even more so when the river in question flows through national boundaries. These are the questions we\u2019ll take up in today\u2019s episode and I\u2019m joined today by Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu\u2019s Beijing Correspondent.