ITANAGAR, Oct 26: Expressing concern over the dispute between India and China over the water of the Brahmaputra (called Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet), Arunachal MP Ninong Ering has appealed to the central government to sign a treaty with China for putting a cap on hydroelectric power project activities on the Yarlung Tsangpo river.
In a letter to Union MoS for Water Resources Arjun Ram Meghwal on Friday, Ering said, “India, once again, is facing the threat of an impending water war from China.” He pleaded that India mount diplomatic pressure on China and revisit its water ties with the neighbouring country.
“Bangladesh can emerge as a great ally with India for its interests on this matter,” the MP added.
Referring to the reported plan of China to build a 1,000 km long tunnel to divert water from the Brahmaputra in Tibet to Xinjiang, a barren region in northwest China, the MP said, “There is a greater need for a diplomatic intervention from India, so that it doesn’t find itself holding the shorter end of the stick at the end of this ambitious project.”
Northeast India has faced great repercussions from the disturbed ties between the two countries, the MP said, adding that the central government could not ignore the threat that China poses and should strive to make the NE region less dependent on the water from the Brahmaputra, “which is currently yielded as a weapon by our northern neighbour.”
In case of a water dispute with China, the central government can impose a trade embargo in the NE region of the country, which is the biggest buyer of Chinese goods, the MP suggested in his letter.
