Notwithstanding the new Chinese leadership’s desire to reach out to New Delhi, Beijing is yet to respond to India’s recent suggestion that a joint mechanism be set up to assess construction work on the Brahmaputra river.
India plans to “continue to press the Chinese for a joint mechanism” and the ambassador in Beijing, S. Jaishankar, is expected to continue pursuing the matter with the government there.
The suggestion for “a broader, stronger mechanism” was made last month by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to new Chinese President, Xi Jinping when they met on the margins of the Brics summit in Durban, South Africa. The PM said he had raised the issue of trans-border river systems with the Chinese leader and suggested a joint mechanism “to enable us to assess the type of construction activity that is going on in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR)”.
In January 2013, New Delhi had conveyed its concerns to Beijing on its plans to construct three dams on the Brahmaputra. The latter had responded then by saying the existing mechanism is “adequate”.
What impelled India to suggest a joint mechanism are China’s plans to build three dams on it. 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.