Top Indian and Chinese water experts are meeting in New Delhi from today to discuss mechanisms for sharing of hydrological data on the Sutlej and Brahmaputra rivers, among other issues.
The meeting comes soon after China confirmed it was constructing a 510 MW hydropower project in Zangmu, Tibet. Unlike with Pakistan, where the Indus water treaty helps sort through many of the contentious issues on water sharing, India has no water sharing agreement with China.
The Indian team, led by a water resources commissioner, is meeting a 12-member Chinese delegation. The talks, an indication of the improving relations with China, have been scheduled over the next three days.
Chinese officials revealed their plans of constructing hydropower projects on the Brahmaputra during a recent visit by Foreign Minister S M Krishna to Beijing. At this stage, Indian officials are not unduly concerned.
Union Water Resources Secretary U N Panjiar said: “Any country is free to construct projects. We would be worried if water was being diverted. There is no evidence to show that they are constructing any project to divert water. Various agencies are monitoring the situation.”
Another four projects are being planned on the Brahmaputra. However, China has said, none of these projects involve storage of water. The project in Zangmu is a run-of-the-river project, being built by Gezhouba, one of China's biggest dam-building companies.
The meeting in Delhi, officials said, is to discuss various other issues that arise out of the two countries sharing waters of the Sutlej and the Brahmaputra. India wants to put in place a mechanism so China could provide hydrological data for better flood management.
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Various other implementation and payment issues need to be discussed, senior officials said. India needs to pay China to maintain some of its stations.
The waters of the Brahmaputra are shared by China, India and Bangladesh. Earlier, satellite pictures had picked up the construction of a dam in Zangmu, in the Lhokha prefecture of Tibet. In fact, during the past two decades there has been considerable speculation about China building a dam, with a view to divert the waters to the north of the country.
At the Kathmandu Workshop of Strategic Foresight Group in August 2009 on Water Security in the Himalayan Region, which brought together leading hydrologists from the Basin countries, the Chinese scientists argued that it was not feasible for China to undertake such a diversion. However, last week, on April 22, China confirmed that it was indeed building a hydroelectric dam on the Brahmaputra at Zhangmu, but assured India that the project would not have any significant effect on the downstream flow to India.