‘If China were to reduce Brahmaputra water flow…': Himanta's detailed ‘response to Pak's scare narrative'

Indian Express

2 days ago

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that 'if China were to reduce water flow (into the Brahmaputra)', it may help mitigate Assam's annual floods.
His comments were made in a post on social media in response to what he said was a 'threat' from Pakistan on the possibility of China obstructing the flow of water from the Brahmaputra, which originates as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet. The chief minister's comments come against the backdrop of India suspending the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack in April.
'China contributes only approximately 30-35% of the Brahmaputra's total flow — mostly through glacial melt and limited Tibetan rainfall. The remaining 65-70% is generated within India, thanks to torrential monsoon rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, and Meghalaya; major tributaries like Subansiri, Lohit, Kameng, Manas, Dhansiri, Jia-Bharali, Kopili; and additional inflows from the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia Hills via rivers such as Krishnai, Digaru, and Kulsi,' he wrote on X.
In the post, he wrote that at the Indo-China border, where the Tsangpo enters Tuting in Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang river, the river flow is around 2,000-3,000 cubic metre per second and that in the Assam plains at Guwahati, the flow swells to around 15,000-20,000 cubic metre per second during monsoon.
What If China Stops Brahmaputra Water to India?A Response to Pakistan's New Scare Narrative
After India decisively moved away from the outdated Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan is now spinning another manufactured threat:'What if China stops the Brahmaputra's water to India?'…
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 2, 2025
Citing these figures, he wrote that the Brahmaputra 'is not a river India depends on upstream' and 'is a rain-fed Indian river system, strengthened after entering Indian territory.'
'Even if China were to reduce water flow (unlikely as China has never threatened or indicated in any official forum), it may actually help India mitigate the annual floods in Assam, which displace lakhs and destroy livelihoods every year,' he wrote.
'Meanwhile, Pakistan — which has exploited 74 years of preferential water access under the Indus Waters Treaty — now panics as India rightfully reclaims its sovereign rights.,' he wrote. Let's remind them: Brahmaputra is not controlled by a single source — it is powered by our geography, our monsoon, and our civilisational resilience.'
His comments also come at a time when the Brahmaputra and several other rivers in Assam are flowing above the danger level, and floods have hit several parts of the Northeast.