Wen begins visit today,dams on India agenda

The presence of the Water Resources Minister in India-China bilateral talks is a new development,and has not happened at least in the last two decades,sources privy to the developments said.

Bansal has been reportedly taking briefings on trans-border river issues for the last two days from officials concerned. He has also been briefed about the deliberations of the Cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekar-headed committee of secretaries on the issue.

An agreement on flood season data-sharing on the Sutlej river is likely to be inked on Thursday in the presence of the two Prime Ministers. A similar pact already exists for the Brahmaputra.

However,the issue of dams has been dominating the minds of South Block mandarins and this will be raised during the bilateral-level discussions.

Last week,Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao had in a lecture on India-China relations described the management of trans-border rivers as an “issue of concern”.

Rao had said New Delhi was “alert” to reports of China damming trans-border rivers and had sought assurances from China that it would not take action to negatively affect the flow of the rivers into India.

China,she said,“assured us” that the projects on the Brahmaputra are “run-of-the-river projects and were not meant for storing or diverting water”.

When asked whether the issue of dams will be discussed,Gautam Bambawale,MEA’s joint secretary (in charge of China) had said on Monday: “All issues which are important to each country will be discussed.”

The Indian Express had reported about Chinese plans to dam the Brahmaputra at its entry to India last year.

India has always maintained that the absence of a formal treaty regarding the sharing of trans-boundary rivers has been a key cause of dispute. Though there is an agreement regarding the sharing of flood-related data during the monsoon,officials in New Delhi say there has been some reluctance on Beijing’s part to enter into any formal treaty on water sharing.

For Pakistan,the 1960 Indus Water Treaty is the guiding force on the sharing of Indus basin rivers between the two countries.