China spikes India's proposal for joint mechanism on Brahmaputra

NEW DELHI: China has turned down India's proposal for a new mechanism to deal with issues of water made in the backdrop of construction of three more dams on the Brahamputra by the Chinese which had raised concerns here.

India is pressing China to have either a water commission or a inter-governmental dialogue or a treaty to deal with water issues between the two countries in the wake of Chinese approval for construction of three more dams on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, in addition to the one being built without informing New Delhi.

The main rivers originating from China entering India are the Brahmaputra in the North East and Indus and Sutlej in the Northern Part of the country and under the current Expert Level Mechanism (ELM), the two countries only share hydrological information (water level, discharge and rainfall) on Yaluzangbu/ Brahmaputra river in flood season by China to India.

However, it is learnt that China has conveyed that the existing mechanism on water issues, especially on the Brahamputra, was "adequate" in response to the proposal by India which has decided to "continue to press" for having such a mechanism.

The issue was also raised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his first bilateral meeting with newly-elected Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of BRICS ( Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit in Durban last month.

Singh was understood to have conveyed to Xi concerns in India over the Chinese proposal to construct three more dams across the Brahmaputra. India has said the proposal would affect water flow to India while China says it was just run-off-the-river project that would not hold water.
Brahmaputra Dam: China turns down India's proposal