The New Great Game In The Himalayas – China’s territorial disputes are as much about dominating important rivers as occupying land

Source: The post is based on the article “The New Great Game In The Himalayas – China’s territorial disputes are as much about dominating important rivers as occupying land” published in The Times of India on 1^st February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – International Relations

Relevance: concerns associated with water sharing between India and China.

News: The article discusses the water challenges that India face from China.

What are the water challenges that India faces from China?

China’s requirement of freshwater is huge and it wants to fully utilize the water for its economy.

China wants to have monopoly in the emerging green technologies, build a domestic chip making industry, extract rare earth metals, etc. All these would need a huge amount of freshwater.

Moreover, China has built dams on almost every major river on the Tibetan plateau, including the Mekong, Salween, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Yellow, Indus, Sutlej, Shweli and Karnali.

It has unveiled plans to build dams on the rivers that still remain free flowing, such as the Arun and the Subansiri.

Further, China also hides hydrological data from India and hence has plans to weaponise the sharing of water.

It has planned to occupy all important watersheds in the Himalayas to justify water transfer schemes and its right to use waters emanating from these watersheds.

Therefore, there are chances to have disputes not only over land but also for water between India and China.

What are the water threats for India?

Most of the major rivers of South Asia originate in the Tibetan plateau. Nearly half that water, i.e., 48%, runs directly into India.

According to sources, nearly 60% of their freshwater sources for India are contaminated. The water in the Brahmaputra River system, the Siang, turns dirty and grey when the stream enters India from Tibet.

Further, the Tibetan glaciers are melting at the rate of 7% annually and two-thirds of the glaciers on the plateau will be gone by 2050.

This current trend of melting suggests that Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra and other rivers across the northern India plains could become seasonal rivers in the near future.

Hence, India will face a major scarcity of water in the coming future and may get involve in conflict with China. Therefore, there is a hidden war already on and India needs to recognize it early.