It may not be a water war yet but it’s definitely something that has raised New Delhi’s hackles. Therefore, it has conveyed its concerns to Beijing over Chinese moves to build three dams on the Brahmaputra.
However, some water experts are already asking if India has done enough in the past to ensure its future interests as a lower riparian state in the case of the Brahmaputra are protected.
They note that there is no institutional or legal mechanism in place to settle water disputes as India is not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navig-ational Uses of Inter-national Watercourses.
India, on its part, has urged China to “ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed by any activities in upstream areas”. The construction of these dams has been approved by the State Council in China and will be part of a new energy development plan for 2015.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said on Thursday: “As a lower riparian state with considerable established user rights to the waters of the river, India has conveyed its views and concerns to the Chinese authorities, including at the highest levels of the government of the People’s Republic of China.”
The three hydro-power projects are to come up in Dagu, Jiacha and Jiexu on the mighty river known as Yarlung Zangbo in China. A major hydropower project which is expected to generate 510 MW is already under construction on this river in Zangmu.
Himanshu Thakkar of the South Asia Network of Dams, Rivers and People believes that India could have better protected its interests as the lower riparian state vis-a-vis China where the Brahmaputra is concerned by signing the UN Convention. The Convention is aimed at guiding countries in negotiating agreements.
Mr Thakkar said: “Over the years, India has been in a weak position vis-a-vis China. India has done itself a great disservice by not becoming a signatory to the UN Convention over some technical issu-es.”
India was among 27 countries that abst-ained from voting for the adoption of this convention in 1997 while 103 nations voted in its favour.
China, along with Turkey and Burundi, was among the three countries that voted against this Convention.