New Delhi, October 15: Firing a fresh salvo, India today said it was opposed to construction of a dam by China on Brahmaputra river and that it was verifying whether such a project is being pursued despite denials.
In the wake of a media report that China has begun constructing a dam on the river, External Affairs Ministry said India has conveyed, during meetings over last three years, that such a project may have significant impact on the socio-economic condition of people living downstream.
“The Indian side has taken up with the Chinese side reports about the construction of a large-scale dam or diversion project in the Brahmaputra,” ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said while referring to the meeting of Expert-Level Mechanism set up in November 2006.
“The Indian side has also expressed the hope that the Chinese side will not undertake such a large-scale project or divert the waters of the Brahmaputra,” he said.
He said the Chinese side has “categorically denied” that there is a plan to build any such large scale diversion project on the Brahmaputra river.
“We are looking into the said newspaper report to ascertain whether there are recent developments that suggest any change in the position conveyed to us by the government of China,” he said while referring to the news item that said China has begun constructing a dam on the river as part of the Nagmu hydroelectric project which was inaugurated on March 16.
—Agencies