China Defends Construction of World's Largest Dam on Yarlung Zangbo

Beijing: On Friday, China defended its plan to construct the world’s largest dam on the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet, a project estimated to cost $137 billion. The dam, part of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, is being built near the Indian border in a seismically active region of the Himalayas, raising significant concerns in downstream countries, including India and Bangladesh.

Chinese authorities, however, assert that the project will not affect lower riparian states and that safety measures have been incorporated following decades of research.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning emphasized that the hydropower development in Tibet is aimed at addressing climate change and managing hydrological disasters through clean energy. She assured that environmental safeguards and disaster prevention measures have been thoroughly considered. China also committed to maintaining communication with downstream countries through established channels.

The dam is planned at a massive gorge where the Yarlung Zangbo, known as the Brahmaputra in India, makes a U-turn into Arunachal Pradesh and later flows into Bangladesh. If completed, the project would surpass the scale of China’s Three Gorges Dam, currently the largest in the world.

India has expressed apprehensions about the dam’s potential to control water flow and cause flooding during hostilities. India is also building a dam on the Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh. Both nations share hydrological data under a bilateral mechanism, which was a topic of discussion during recent talks between Indian NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The project presents significant engineering challenges due to its location in an earthquake-prone region.

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