Latest news with #India-China
The Hindu
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Dam on upper reaches Brahmaputra will not impact India, Bangladesh: China
China on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) defended the launch of the construction of a dam over the Brahmaputra river in the ecologically sensitive Tibet region and allayed concerns over its impact in the lower riparian countries such as India and Bangladesh. It is learnt that India is keeping a close eye on the construction of what is said to be the world's largest hydropower dam. Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday (July 19, 2025) announced the start of the construction of the dam in the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River, locally known as Yarlung Zangbo, at Nyingchi City located close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Arunachal Pradesh sector. The project 'will not have any negative impact on the downstream regions', Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a media briefing, while responding to a question on concerns in India and Bangladesh over the dam. There have been mounting concerns in India over the potential environmental impact of the dam. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu recently called it a ticking 'water bomb', an existential threat and a bigger issue than anything else apart from the military threat. Also read: Not immediately worried about China constructing dam on Brahmaputra: Assam CM Himanta In an interview with PTI on July 8, Mr. Khandu said the world's largest dam project on the Brahmaputra river is a matter of grave concern, as China is not a signatory to the international water treaty that could have forced it to abide by international norms. 'The issue is that China cannot be trusted. No one knows what they might do,' said Mr. Khandu. The dam is expected to generate more than 300 billion kWh of electricity each year, enough to meet the annual needs of over 300 million people. Concerns arose in India as the dam besides empowering China to control the water flow, the size and scale of it could also enable Beijing to release large amounts of water that could flood border areas on the Indian side. Playing down the concerns of the lower riparian states, Mr. Guo said China has cooperated with them by sharing hydrological data, flood prevention and disaster alleviation. Also read: NSA Ajit Doval's China visit for SCO meet China had necessary communication with the two countries on the project, he said, adding that China would continue to enhance cooperation with downstream countries to benefit the people along the river. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the development of the project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River is a matter of China's sovereignty. The project was aimed at building clean energy, improving local people's lives and in response to climate change, he added. In the planning, design and construction of the hydro power projects in the lower reaches, China strictly follows the highest industrial standards in protecting ecological environment in an all-round way, he said. Opinion | An India-China reset needs bold and new thinking He also claimed that the development of the project will help prevent disasters along the whole river and will not have a negative impact on the downstream regions. China has already operationalised the $1.5 billion Zam Hydropower Station, the largest in Tibet, in 2015, which raised concerns in India. Critics point out that the dams in Brahmaputra present an enormous engineering challenges as the project site is located along a tectonic plate boundary where earthquakes occur frequently. The Tibetan plateau, regarded as the roof of the world, periodically experiences earthquakes as it is located over the tectonic plates. India and China established the Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) in 2006 to discuss various issues related to trans-border rivers under which China provides India with hydrological information on the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers during the flood seasons. However, the sharing of hydrological data between the two countries hit a roadblock following the eastern Ladakh border row. Data sharing of trans-border rivers figured in the talks between India and China Special Representatives (SRs) for the border question, NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, held in Beijing on December 18 last year. Reports from Dhaka said the Chinese envoy to Bangladesh Yao Wen has assured that its dam is solely for electricity generation and will not affect water flow to downstream countries. Also read: Border dispute with India complicated, takes time; ready to discuss delimitation, says China Mr. Yao conveyed the message during a meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain during their meeting on July 21. 'China will not withdraw or use any water from the project and the project will not affect downstream countries,' he was quoted as saying in a media report.
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
5 years on, India resumes tourist visas to Chinese
NEW DELHI: After a five-year hiatus, and ahead of a possible visit by PM Narendra Modi to China next month for the SCO summit, India announced resumption of tourist visas for Chinese nationals. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Both sides have looked to facilitate people-to-people exchanges to normalise ties. China, which has been keen to resume direct air services, welcomed the decision as a positive move. The Indian embassy in Beijing announced the decision effective July 24 on Weibo, China's microblogging site, on a day the two countries also held another round of diplomatic talks on border affairs, expressing satisfaction with the "general prevalence of peace and tranquillity in the border areas, leading to gradual normalisation of bilateral relations". India and China have had frequent high-level engagements since Modi's meeting with President Xi Jinping in Kazan last year, following the agreement to complete the disengagement of troops at the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh. The decision to restart tourist visa services for Chinese nationals is the second significant step towards normalisation, after the resumption of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. China welcomes India decision on tourist visas The Chinese foreign ministry said, "This is a positive move. Easing cross-border travel serves the interests of all parties. China will maintain communication and consultation with India to further facilitate travel between the two countries." Chinese foreign minister and special representative (SR) for boundary talks Wang Yi is expected to visit India soon for the next round of SR (special representative) talks with NSA Ajit Doval and, with the thaw in ties holding up, Modi himself is likely to visit China for the SCO summit, to be held Aug 31-Sept 1. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now If it happens, this will be Modi's first visit to the country in seven years. During his recent visit to China, foreign minister S Jaishankar had said, while citing the complex international situation, that as neighbouring nations and major economies, an open exchange of views and perspectives between India and China was very important. In the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination (WMCC) talks on India-China border affairs, according to an Indian readout, the two sides agreed to maintain regular exchanges and contacts on issues related to the boundary affairs at the diplomatic and military levels through established mechanisms. The focus was also on the upcoming SR talks for which Wang will be in India. "The two sides also prepared for the next round of Special Representatives' talks on the India-China boundary question to be held in India later this year," the Indian readout said. Doval had travelled to China for the last round of SR boundary talks in Dec 2024. Doval and Wang had then reiterated the importance of maintaining a "political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship" while seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for settlement of boundary question, and resolved to inject vitality into the process.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Why China refuses to resolve the border issue
India's defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar visited China recently in connection with the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Beijing later this year, and aimed at preparing the ground for a possible prime ministerial visit that could be the first in seven years. What is striking is the different tones adopted by the two ministers with their counterparts. During his visit in June, Singh created a minor flutter when he told his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, that there was a need 'to have a permanent solution of border demarcation by rejuvenating the established mechanism on the issue'. Jaishankar's tone during his meeting with his counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing last week was quite different. He spoke of the 'steadily improving' India-China relations as a result of the 'resolution of the friction along the border and our ability to maintain peace and tranquility there.' Peace on the border, he told Wang, was the fundamental basis of good relations. After the disengagement that had taken place in 2024, the time had come to undertake de-escalation that would see the reduction of the additional forces the two countries had massed in the eastern Ladakh-western Tibet region, he added. The Chinese could not have been too happy about Singh raising the border issue the way he did. As Jaishankar noted, the two sides are in the process of repairing their ties that were shattered by the Chinese 2020 misadventure in Eastern Ladakh. They have barely agreed to restore status quo ante there, and now the Indians appeared to be taking a huge leap forward by suggesting that the two sides move to settle their long-running border dispute that has prevented the demarcation of their border. According to the government press release of June 27, Singh stressed the issue of border management and the need 'to have a permanent solution of border demarcation by rejuvenating the established mechanism on the issue'. The Chinese response to Singh came a day later when Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning pointed out that the two sides indeed have such a mechanism, that of the office of Special Representatives who had worked out the 'Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Border Question'. When the Press Trust of India reporter pointed out that there had been '20 rounds of special representative talks,' Mao's reply was the standard Chinese retort that 'The boundary question is complicated, and it takes time to settle it'. In the meantime, she hoped that the two countries would maintain communications and keep 'the border areas peaceful and tranquil. The Political Parameters agreement was signed a quarter century ago in 2005, and the two Special Representatives have held 23 rounds of meetings, the last in December 2024. The meeting of the Chinese Special Representative Wang Yi (who is also foreign minister) and his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, in Beijing in June, was at the sidelines of an SCO meeting. They did not take the opportunity to meet as the Special Representatives whose stated task is to resolve the border issue. The Political Parameters Agreement was indeed a far-reaching one. It certified that the two sides were seeking to resolve their boundary question not through historical claims and maps, but on 'political' grounds. Article III of the agreement said that both sides should make mutually acceptable adjustments to their respective positions 'to arrive at a package settlement'. Articles IV and VII seemed to suggest that the framework suggested would essentially freeze the border on an 'as is where is' basis — China retaining control of Aksai Chin and India of Arunachal Pradesh. But, almost immediately, China began to walk back from the agreement. In 2006, Chinese ambassador Sun Yuxi declared that China claimed all of Arunachal Pradesh, including Tawang. At the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting in 2007, Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi told his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherji that the 'settled populations' part did not apply to the Tawang tract. The Chinese shift seemed to have been occasioned by some internal re-thinking. This is related to the Dalai Lama and Tibet. The monastery in Tawang was founded at the instance of the fifth Dalai Lama, the 'Great Fifth'. The Tawang region was also the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, who was not Tibetan, but a Monpa. The Chinese worry that the next Dalai Lama could well be incarnated in the region. Since that time, the Chinese have stuck to their position that unless Tawang was conceded, there can be no border settlement. Not surprisingly, India has told them that keeping Tawang on the Chinese agenda was the surest way to block a border settlement. Leave alone demarcating a permanent border, China has steadily refused to even clarify the Line of Actual Control that currently marks the border, creating the potential for conflict. It was the Chinese blockade preventing India from exercising its right to patrol several areas where there were overlapping claims that led to the 2020 crisis in eastern Ladakh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to persuade the Chinese in 2014 and 2015 to clarify these points on the LAC, but to little avail. The first time was when Xi Jinping visited India in October 2014, and the second was when Modi made a return visit in May 2015. The only conclusion that arises from the Chinese equivocation on permanently settling the border is that they want to keep open a means of stoking conflict with India. The aim is to not only pressure New Delhi to accept a border on Chinese terms, but also use it as leverage against India in relation to Chinese interests in South Asia. Manoj Joshi is a distinguished fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.
Kuwait Times
a day ago
- Business
- Kuwait Times
Why neighbors are worried about China's mega-dam project
SINGAPORE: China has broken ground on what it says will be the world's largest hydropower project, a $170 billion feat capable of generating enough electricity each year to power Britain. The scheme dwarfs the mighty Three Gorges Dam, currently the world's largest, and Chinese construction and engineering stocks surged after Premier Li Qiang unveiled it on the weekend. For Beijing, the project promises clean power, jobs and a jolt of stimulus for a slowing economy. For neighbors downstream, it stirs old anxieties about water security: the Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brahmaputra in India and Bangladesh, a lifeline for millions. The plan involves five dams along a 50 km stretch where the river plunges 2,000 meters off the Tibetan Plateau. First power is expected to be generated in the early to mid 2030s, but beyond that and the price tag, China has published little information about how it intends to build the project. That lack of information is compounding fears about water security in India and Bangladesh, which rely on the Brahmaputra for irrigation, hydropower and drinking water. The chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China, said earlier this year that the dam could dry out 80 percent of the river passing through the Indian state while potentially inundating downstream areas such as neighboring Assam state. In addition to water, the dam will also mean less sediment flowing downstream, according to Michael Steckler, a professor at Columbia University. That sediment carries nutrients essential for agriculture on floodplains downstream. India and China fought a border war in this region in the 1960s, and the lack of transparency from Beijing has helped fuel speculation it might use the dam to cut off water in another conflict, according to Sayanangshu Modak, an expert on the India-China water relationship at the University of Arizona. 'The construction of the Yarlung Zangbo hydropower project is a matter within the scope of China's sovereign affairs,' Beijing's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, adding the dam would provide clean energy and prevent flooding. 'China has also conducted necessary communication with downstream countries regarding hydrological information, flood control, and disaster mitigation cooperation related to the Yarlung Zangbo project,' the ministry said. India's foreign and water ministries did not respond to requests for comment. But the impact of the dam on downstream flows has been overstated, in part because the bulk of the water that enters the Brahmaputra is from monsoon rainfall south of the Himalayas, and not from China, said Modak. He added that China's plans are for a 'run of the river' hydropower project, which means the water will flow normally along the usual course of the Brahmaputra. India itself has proposed two dams on the Siang river, its name for the Yarlung Zangbo. One, an 11.5-gigawatt project in Arunachal Pradesh, will be India's largest if it goes ahead. Those have been proposed, in part, to assert India's claims on the river and bolster its case should China ever seek to divert the water, Modak added. 'If India can show that it has been using the waters, then China cannot unilaterally divert,' he said. Quarrels over dams and water security are not new. Pakistan has accused India of weaponizing shared water supplies in the disputed Kashmir region after New Delhi suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty, which regulates water sharing between the neighbors. — Reuters In Egypt, a senior politician was once caught on camera proposing to bomb a controversial Nile river dam planned by Ethiopia during a long-running dispute over the project. The dam will be built in an earthquake zone also prone to landslides, glacial lake floods and storms. A spree of dam building in the area sparked concerns from experts about safety following a devastating earthquake in Tibet earlier this year. A much smaller hydropower project on a nearby tributary has been limited to four month construction windows because of engineering challenges in high altitudes and vicious winters. -- Reuters
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
a day ago
- Business
- Business Standard
India resumes tourist visas for Chinese nationals after five-year freeze
India will start issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals from July 24 after halting them for five years, Reuters reported, citing the Indian Embassy in China. The development marks a shift in the strained ties between the two countries, which are aiming to improve ties and ease tensions after Galwan clashes in 2020. Chinese media Global Times shared the post made by the Indian Embassy in China on Weibo. Sharing the post on X, it said, "The Embassy of India in China announced via its Sina Weibo account on Wednesday that, starting from July 24, 2025, Chinese citizens can apply for a tourist visa to visit India after completing an online application, scheduling an appointment, and personally submitting their passport and other required documents to the Indian Visa Application Centers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, in South China's Guangdong Province." It further added, "This marks the first time since the suspension in 2020 that India has resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens after a five-year hiatus, according to media reports." Earlier this year, the two countries also agreed to resume direct air services, along with resuming the Kailash Mansarovar yatra this summer. Both the direct air services and the Kailash Mansarovar yatra were suspended after the Covid-19 pandemic and the Galwan clashes. India suspends visas for Chinese nationals In 2020, India suspended all tourist visas for Chinese nationals in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. In April 2022, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued a notice, stating that all tourist visas to Chinese nationals will no longer be valid. The move came in retaliation after China limited the re-entry of as many as 22,000 Indian students in the country after the Covid-19 pandemic. Breakthrough in India-China ties Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited China, marking his first visit in five years, indicating a positive development in the ties of the two countries. Earlier in March this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlighted positive developments in India-China relations. He added that both countries have made positive strides in their bilateral ties and achieved encouraging outcomes. Yi emphasised the need for a cooperative partnership between the dragon (China) and the elephant (India). He stated, "China believes that as the largest neighbors, both countries should be partners in each other's success." He attributed the positive developments between the two countries to a successful meeting held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Kazan, Russia.
