Will China's Plan To Build World's Largest Dam In Tibet Affect India? Beijing Says... - Details

China, on Friday, defended its plan to build the world's largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet. Indian analysts have raised serious concerns about Beijing's plans to construct the plan citing likely damages in the lower reaches in India and Bangladesh.

Addressing the concerns, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the project will not affect riparian states, adding that safety issues will not be a concern as they have been addressed through decades of studies.

What Does China Have To Say?

Mao Ning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson played down all apprehensions and anxieties around the project which is estimated to cost around USD 137 billion.

Moreover, the project is also being built in the ecologically fragile zone of the Himalayan region located along a tectonic plate where earthquakes are the norm.

According to Ning, China has carried out in-depth studies for decades and taken safeguard measures.

She added that the hydropower development in Tibet has been studied in an in-depth way for decades and safeguard measures have been taken for the security of the project and ecological and environmental protection.

Notably, she pointed out that the project will not affect the lower reaches.

She further assured the media that China will maintain communication with the countries in the lower reaches through existing channels while stepping up international cooperation on disaster prevention and relief for the benefit of the people.

This has raised concerns in riparian states such as India and Bangladesh.

The hydropower project is going to be built in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, also known as the Brahmaputra, an official statement here said.

The dam will be built at a huge gorge in the Himalayan reaches where the Brahmaputra makes a U-turn to flow into Arunachal Pradesh and then Bangladesh.

The Chinese hydropower development aims to speed up the development of clean energy in the Yarlung Zangbo River and respond to climate change and extreme hydrological disasters.