Transboundary policy negotiation

The statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs that India "carefully monitors all developments" relating to the river Brahmaputra and that "intends to remain engaged with China on the issue of trans-border rivers to safeguards its interest" is a timely response to allay apprehension over media reports on plans by the neighbouring country to build a major dam on the river. China has also downplayed the media reports and sought to assure that there is no need to have "any anxiety" over the project and that China will continue to have "good communication" with lower riparian countries – India and Bangladesh. However, lack of transparency on river dam projects on the Brahmaputra river, known as Yarlung Zangbo in China has kept alive the apprehension of severe adverse effect in downstream areas of the cross-border river in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It is reassuring to observe Chinese Foreign Ministry going on record stating that China, India, and Bangladesh will continue to have communication through existing channels. The neighbouring country insists that "for a long time, China, India and Bangladesh have had good cooperation in sharing hydrological information, flood and disaster reduction and contingency management." India and China established Expert Level Mechanism in 2006 to discuss various issues related to trans-border rivers.

Government of India should brief the North-eastern States on the effectiveness of this mechanism in allaying the apprehension among the people in the region over the Chinese projects on the river. Responding to a query during a media briefing on China's plan to build a dam over the river near the Line of Actual Control along Arunachal Pradesh, the Chinese foreign ministry asserts that the "hydropower development in the lower reaches of Yarlung Zangbo river is China's legitimate right. When it comes to use and development of cross-border rivers, China always acts responsibly." It also said that China has a policy "featuring development and conservation and all projects will go through science-based planning and assessment giving full consideration to impact downstream and accommodating the interests of upstream and downstream regions." As a lower riparian state with considerable established user rights to the waters of the trans-border rivers, India has been consistently conveying to the Chinese authorities to ensure that "the interests of downstream States are not harmed by any activities in upstream areas." Under the ELM, China shares only flood season data of the Brahmaputra with India. China not sharing the real time data of transboundary river has allowed the space for suspicion and apprehension to grow over the Chinese projects on the river. Such real time data are crucial for India for long-term projects on flood management and erosion control along the Brahmaputra stretch in Assam.

The Brahmaputra originates in Southern Tibet region and flows for 1625 km through Tibet Autonomous Region in China while the river stretch in India through Arunachal Pradesh (known as Siang) and Assam is 918 km and the stretch in Bangladesh is 337 km before its outfall into to the Bay of Bengal through a joint channel of Ganga. Sustained transboundary dialogue among the four basin countries of the river that also includes Bhutan at track II and track III levels are needed to supplement the track I initiatives by two Asian giants to take the engagement on the Brahmaputra to the next higher level. Government of India simultaneously needs to be reminded that people in downstream areas of the river in Assam should not be held hostage to India and China rushing to establishing first user rights of Brahmaputra water through construction of mega dams. A comprehensive basin level collaborative study on cumulative impact of dams India and China plan to builds in downstream areas must precede to address the genuine concern among the people living on the Brahmaputra basin before proceeding to execute any such projects.

The Brahmaputra basin countries have lessons to learn from Mekong River Commission formed after nearly four decades of dialogue among the countries of Mekong basin how sustained dialogue can lead to successful collaboration on management of a transboundary river that is critical to addressing the challenges faced by the dialogue partners and turning them into opportunities. In respect of Brahmaputra basin, India's engagement should not be limited to only conveying concerns to Chinese authorities over the projects as a riparian state but as equal dialogue partners of a transboundary river basin. Both India and China must not allow suspicion and apprehension to cloud the engagement between the two neighbouring countries over the river Brahmaputra. That will be possible only when India has access to real time data on the river and there is absolute transparency in the river projects taken up in upstream regions of the river by China. The sustained engagement is vital to ensuring water security of the North-eastern states.