07. Jul 2006
China calms India over Sutlej hydro plant
(ZEE News) The Chinese government has announced that it has recently built a small hydro-electric station on the Sutlej River at ‘Zada’ in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) "in order to satisfy the electricity needs of the local population”, a spokesperson at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Referring to Indian reports which claimed the Chinese barrage may block water to India, the spokesperson said "I can't understand the [Indian] media reports". She claimed China has consistently adhered to the basic principles of fair and reasonable development of trans-border rivers. A leading Indian daily had reported that the idea of any barrage across the Sutlej was "bad news" for India and "raises concern that Beijing may finally be controlling the flow of water into India". "In the process of development of trans-border rivers, the Chinese side fully considers the impact on its lower reaches", a Chinese ministry said in a statement. China is constructing many dams and barrages on many of the rivers that originate from Tibet, raising particular concern in downstream countries like Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.