China on Saturday justified its move to blockade a tributary of the Brahmaputra to construct a dam saying it would not affect the river flow into India.
Seeking to allay apprehensions that it would affect India, Beijing said that there will be no adverse impact on downstream areas.
Terming the Lalho dam project on the Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra which is locally called as Yarlung Zangbo, as an important livelihood project to address food security and flood safety in Tibet, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the tributary river is located completely within the Chinese side.
"The reservoir capacity of the project is less than 0.02 per cent of the average annual runoff of the Yarlung Zangbo- Brahmaputra. It cannot have an adverse impact on the downstream," Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a written reply to PTI when asked about India's concerns over the dam.
Brahmaputra flows from Tibet into Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and later into Bangladesh.
On October 1, China announced the blockade of Xiabuqu river in Tibet as part of the construction of its "most expensive" dam project.
Beijing said that this has been done as part of the construction of its most expensive hydro project.
The Lalho project on the Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo (the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra), in Xigaze in Tibet involves an investment of 4.95 billion yuan (USD 740 million or Rs 4925 crore).
Xigaze also known as Shigatse is closely located to Sikkim. From Xigaze, the Brahmaputra flows into Arunachal Pradesh.
Terming it as the "most expensive project", the report said the project, whose construction began in June 2014, was scheduled to be completed in 2019.
"Proceeding from the larger picture of China-India friendship and from the humanitarian angle, the Chinese side has overcome all kinds of difficulties, and has provided services to the Indian side such as flood season hydrological data and emergency management, and has played a positive role in areas such as flood and disaster control along the banks of the relevant rivers," the ministry said.
"China is willing to continue relevant cooperation with the Indian side through the existing expert level mechanism on trans-border rivers," it said.
India had said it would take up with China the issue of its blocking the Brahmaputra tributary
"We have conveyed to the Chinese side that they should be mindful of the interests of the lower riparian country while undertaking any projects on these rivers," foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said.
Swarup had said there is a bilateral agreement with China to share information on cross border rivers which include Brahmaputra and Sutlej.
(With PTI inputs)
