China’s Designs on Luit

Arunachal Pradesh is understandably perturbed over reports of China’s plans to construct a dam over the Tsang-po River (known as the Brahmaputra in India) that would divert the waters of the river to drier areas of China. A delegation from Arunachal Pradesh headed by Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and comprising several ministers of the State met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Monday to express serious concern over the construction of the proposed dam, and called upon the Union government to take up the matter seriously with Beijing. Speaking to The Sentinel from New Delhi, Lok Sabha MP Takam Sanjoy, who was part of the delegation, said, “We have categorically objected to China’s plans to divert the Brahmaputra. If the Brahmaputra is diverted, the ramifications on the cultural and economic life of the people in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam would be disastrous.” Refusing to accept China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh, he complimented the Government of India for reasserting its right on the State as an integral part of India.

There are innumerable examples all over this planet of a river meandering through two or even three countries across political boundaries. Neighbouring countries confer on how the waters of the river are to be shared and on matters of riparian rights. While it is true that accord in such matters is almost always difficult to reach, neighbouring countries eventually manage to forge agreements that are followed meticulously in the interests of enduring peace. Not to speak of international agreements on water sharing being difficult to forge, even inter-State agreements on water sharing are difficult achieve. The discord between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the sharing of the Cauvery waters has been a long-standing one. Even the intervention of the Supreme Court has not been able to do much in this regard. Nearer home, in the international sphere, the sharing of the Ganga waters has always been a bone of contention between Bangladesh and India. During the Khaleda Zia regime, Bangladesh even resorted to some arm-twisting of India by encouraging the training of Indian militants in camps scattered all over Bangladesh. Though there is no implicit indication that more equitable water-sharing (from Dhaka’s point of view) and the continuation of the training camps for militants and terrorists from India were not related matters, people in India recognized the tacit connection. This has done incalculable damage to bilateral relations, but the camps continue to exist even though the ULFA has deemed it more judicious to move out of Bangladesh.

It is time to tell China very firmly that rivers flowing through two or three countries are very common facts of life (the Brahmaputra flows through, China, India and Bangladesh), and that no country can adopt a proprietorial attitude over a river that originates in that country. If it flows through other countries as well, those countries too are entitled to an equitable share of the water of that river under the provisions of international law. The Brahmaputra has been flowing as it does now for centuries, and the people living on its shores and in its basin have sustained their lives with the water of the Brahmaputra. No power can take it all away one fine morning by building a dam over the river and diverting all the water in a manner that it ceases to flow as it has done for centuries. It is time India resorted to a bit of coercive diplomacy both over the issue of China’s claim of Arunachal Pradesh as Chinese territory and its proposal to build a dam over the Tsang-po. As for the issue of the dam over the Brahmaputra, it is perfectly reasonable for India to approach the International Court at The Hague if all other diplomatic initiatives are fruitless. After all, in the case of China, such irritants are premeditated and not related solely to the need of water. China’s acts of regarding Jammu & Kashmir as another country and of issuing separate visas for tourists from Jammu & Kashmir are calculated slights that India must begin to see in the larger framework of China wanting to impose its suzerainty on India and to clip the wings of a competitive and mighty economic power in the making. So when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assures Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi that he will take up the matter with Beijing, he probably has in mind China’s earlier announcement that it has no plans to divert the waters of the Tsang-po. But when dealing with China there is often no way of determining what its real intentions are. THE SENTINEL