K.S. Venkatachalam
Three recent developments involving China are raising alarms in South Asia, with serious implications for the geopolitical landscape, particularly for India. These developments are:
- China’s plan to build a $137 billion Yarlung Tsangpo dam in Tibet, which could generate 40,000 megawatts of electricity annually. This dam, located in Medog County, could potentially be used as a weapon to control and divert the flow of water to India, leading to flooding risks.
- China’s refusal to withdraw troops from areas they intruded upon in 2020, coupled with military drills in Eastern Ladakh to prepare for possible future conflicts with India.
- China restricting the export of critical equipment to India, especially for manufacturing solar panels, electric vehicles, and electronics.
These actions indicate that China is unlikely to mend ties with India anytime soon. There’s a growing sentiment that China is determined to prevent India from emerging as a dominant power in Asia.
First, The Yarlung Tsangpo dam project, which will be the world’s largest hydroelectric project, has raised serious concerns. While China claims that the dam is a “run-of-the-river” project meant solely for hydroelectric power, India worries that China could use the dam to control the water flow of the Yarlung Zangbo river, which flows from Tibet to India’s Arunachal Pradesh and then to Bangladesh. If China were to divert or block the flow of water, millions of people downstream in India and Bangladesh could be affected.
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