Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu Blunt On China , Says They Cannot Be Trusted, No One Knows What They Might Do

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China’s mega dam being built near the Arunachal Pradesh border will be a ticking ‘water bomb’, an existential threat and a bigger issue than anything else apart from the military threat, the state’s Chief Minister Pema Khandu has said.

In an interview to PTI Videos , Khandu said the world’s largest dam project on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra, is a matter of grave concern as China is not a signatory to the international water treaty that could have forced it to abide by international norms.

“The issue is that China cannot be trusted. No one knows what they might do,” said Khandu in the interview at PTI headquarters.

“Setting aside the military threat from China, it seems to me that this is a far bigger issue than anything else. It is going to cause an existential threat to our tribes and our livelihoods. It is quite serious because China could even use this as a sort of ‘water bomb’,” he said.

The dam project, known as Yarlung Tsangpo dam, was announced after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the border region in 2021.

According to reports, China approved the construction of the $137 billion, five-year project in 2024. It is projected to produce 60,000 MW of power, making it the world’s largest hydropower dam.

Had China signed the international water treaty, Khandu said, there would have been no problem because it would be mandatory to release a certain amount of water downstream for the basin, for aquatic and marine life.

In fact, if China was a signatory to international water-sharing agreements, this project could have been a blessing for India, he said.

For one, it would have prevented the summer flooding of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Bangladesh where the Brahmaputra flows.