China’s recently concluded national-level meetings, held in Beijing in March every year, portend dramatic changes in the social, cultural and economic landscape of Tibet, along our northern border. The decisions taken at these two plenums — the National People’s Congress (NPC) which is China’s version of a parliament and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) its political advisory body — have important implications for India.
Within days of the plenums’ conclusion, Che Dalha, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), spelt out the imminent changes in a lengthy article in the People’s Daily.
After endless speculation, the construction of the world’s largest dam on the Great Bend of the Brahmaputra (Yarlung Tsangpo) has been approved. The dam itself will be three times more massive than the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze, the world’s largest so far. And it will not be alone. It will be one of a series of dams that aim to power China’s vast south-western region and irrigate its arid north, impacting the flow of water in India’s Brahmaputra basin and beyond.
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