"Chinese dam concerns raise fears of future water conflict" SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 05 September, 2013Beijing's coyness over hydro plans for Tibet's Yarlung Zangbo sparks mistrust from India over downstream impact on Brahmaputra.The sensitive issue of water sharing between China and India is again under the spotlight.India raised its longstanding concerns about Chinese dam construction on rivers that start in China and flow into the sub-continent at the 5th round of the India-China strategic dialogue in New Delhi last month.
A dramatic title aimed at western influenced security scholars, 'Is China aiming to weaponize water'- in an English daily based in Geneva on 31st January, has once again triggered apprehensions in India of unilateral water diversion in the Brahmaputra River by China.
Early this month, the resolution of the Union Cabinet to constitute a special purpose vehicle- Polavaram Project Authority (PPA)- caught the Odisha government napping. Instead, the news has attracted cautious criticism from the state government. With General election in full swing and Telengana Statehood is commencing- it is beyond obvious that political parties, , leader of oppositions including incumbent State and Union governments would left no stone unturned to gain political mileage of blame game. It is less important to read between the lines on the timing of PPA.
The strategically significant Central Asian region, which feeds by two historically important river systems- Amu Darya and Syr Darya with credible hydrocarbon and oil resources, quite often attracts theories of 'resource conflict', 'water war' and 'great game'. However, cooperative management of strategic rivers to cater to the needs of riparian countries remains an unresolved issue. Presently, the UN is organising a two-day (August 20-21) High-Level International Conference on Water Cooperation (HLICW) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.