India’s excessive maliciousness against neighbours is writ large. Now, the Modi government is bedevilling China’s approved Medog Dam in Tibet to stir up tension on unfounded paranoia of water scarcity, ecological havoc and environmental implications on downstream nations, especially India and Bangladesh.
Medog Dam, approved in 2024, is planned to be constructed in Medog county, China’s last county located in the southeast of Tibet, on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangbo River, in the eastern section of the Himalayas. It continues into Assam, where it merges with tributaries like the Dibang and Lohit, becoming the Brahmaputra in India. The river eventually enters Bangladesh before flowing into the Bay of Bengal.
Once completed, the 60,000 MW project will generate clean energy three times the electricity of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in central China.
Well-aligned with China’s 15th five-year plan (2026-2031), the Medog dam is part of China’s “dual carbon” goal announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly which further redirected China’s development agenda toward a sustainable pathway by committing to peaking its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
Seismic activity remains a persistent danger, with a notable cluster of earthquakes recorded near the U-Bend.
Despite the international community praising the Medog dam for being a producer of clean energy without hurting the regional ecosystem, India hyped it as “Chinese weapons” or “ticking water bombs”.
India alleges that China’s plan to build the dam in Medog County, potentially utilising the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon with its dramatic elevation drop of over 2,000 metres near the U Bend, raises pressing concerns. These include disruptions to water flow, reduced transport of fertile soil downstream, and fears of water diversion for China’s use, which some view as a potential geopolitical weapon under the guise of development.
India also claimed that most of the surrounding areas of the Medog dam experience a cold, dry mountain climate. In the Tibetan Plateau, climate change impacts are expected to vary across these zones, influencing the quality, quantity, flow rate, and seasonal patterns of water reaching downstream areas in India. The basin’s susceptibility to natural disasters compounds these risks. Landslides and earthquakes pose significant threats, particularly around the proposed dam site, which has high landslide susceptibility. Although flash floods are relatively less frequent in the lower reaches than in the upper reaches, their occurrence cannot be ruled out. Seismic activity remains a persistent danger, with a notable cluster of earthquakes recorded near the U Bend.
What is the reality? Let us take a closer look at the project and its impact. Why is China undertaking this project? The Yarlung Zangbo River is the world’s highest-altitude major river, descending through the globe’s longest and steepest canyon, holding Asia’s greatest untapped water reserves. The proposed project is located in the river’s lower reaches, where its precipitous fall creates one of the greatest concentrations of river energy on Earth. With a planned capacity of 60 gigawatts, it is expected to generate nearly 300 billion kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable and zero-carbon electricity every year, sufficient for the annual consumption of 300 million people. By effectively reducing dependence on fossil fuels, the construction of this project will help China meet its “dual carbon” goals. It will also contribute to combating climate change and promoting low-carbon development globally. Further, the development of solar and wind energy resources in the surrounding areas will be significantly promoted, thereby forming a multi-energy, complementary clean energy pattern.
China adheres to a responsible attitude towards cross-border river development and pursues a policy of balancing utilisation and protection. Through decades of rigorous assessment, the project has fully considered the regional geological environment, avoiding seismically active areas and geological disaster chains in the basin. During the construction, disaster monitoring will be ensured, and the basin’s disaster prevention and emergency-response capabilities will be continuously improved. After completion, the project can effectively reduce water erosion, gradually slow down and stabilise the river landform evolution, and ultimately reduce the occurrence of geological disasters. In addition, the project prioritises biodiversity, striving to preserve the original ecosystem to the greatest extent in accordance with the highest industry standards. Ecological compensation and vegetation restoration will set an example for future projects.
China sticks to the policy of forging friendships and partnerships with its neighbours. It never pursues the maximisation of unilateral interests, let alone benefits for itself at the expense of its neighbours. China does not and will never seek “water hegemony”. In fact, China has signed over 50 bilateral treaties and agreements with neighbouring countries on water resources management and established more than 10 cross-border river basin governance institutions with cooperative development and ecological protection as core. Taking the Lancang River as an example, China has always maintained good communication and cooperation with the lower riparian states on water conservancy and hydropower projects, leading to mutual benefits.
The development of the project has corresponding guarantees in terms of engineering safety and environmental protection and has no negative impact on the lower reaches. More specifically, the project does not consume water but only uses the potential energy of water to generate electricity. After completion, it will help with disaster prevention and reduction by making the runoff, more even via “rainy season flood storage and dry season water release.” Indian scholars have pointed out that the water volume of the Brahmaputra River is mainly from rainfall and tributaries in the southern slope of the Himalayas. As the project progresses, China will release more data and information in due course.
In 2006, China and India established an expert-level mechanism on trans-border rivers to cooperate on hydrological reporting and disaster prevention and reduction. China has repeatedly provided hydrological data to India during emergencies and strongly supported it in disaster prevention and reduction measures. During the recent meeting of the special representatives on the China-India boundary question, both sides agreed to continue enhancing cross-border communication and cooperation, including cooperation on cross-border rivers. China will continue to maintain communication with India through existing channels and step up cooperation on disaster prevention and relief. China stands ready to work with the Indian side to enhance mutual trust, strengthen cooperation, properly handle differences, and promote the healthy and stable development of China-India relations.
The writer is a senior Journalist. He is also President of Institute of International Relations and Media Research (IIRMR).