China defends Brahmaputra dam: 'For power only, won't hurt India or Bangladesh flow'

China on Wednesday defended the construction of a massive hydropower dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, insisting the project poses no threat to lower riparian countries India and Bangladesh amid growing regional anxiety over its ecological and strategic implications.

Premier Li Qiang on Saturday formally announced the launch of the project at Nyingchi City in Tibet's lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo (as the Brahmaputra is known in China), near the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh. Expected to be the world’s largest hydropower facility, the dam will generate more than 300 billion kilowatt-hours annually-enough to meet the electricity needs of 300 million people.

"The project will not have any negative impact on the downstream regions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a media briefing. Guo claimed that China had engaged in "necessary communication" with both India and Bangladesh and continues to cooperate on hydrological data-sharing, flood prevention, and disaster mitigation.

However, the announcement has triggered alarm in India. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, in an interview earlier this month, called the project a "ticking water bomb" and an "existential threat," stating, "The issue is that China cannot be trusted. No one knows what they might do."

Concerns have mounted over the potential for China to control water flows or deliberately release large volumes to flood Indian border areas. The absence of an international water treaty-one that could bind China to shared river management standards-further complicates the issue. Experts also warn that the dam, located in an ecologically sensitive and seismically active zone, raises major engineering and safety risks.

China maintains that the project supports its clean energy goals and local development. Guo emphasised that it is "a matter of China’s sovereignty,” adding that the planning and construction adhere to "the highest industrial standards" for environmental protection. He also said the dam will help "prevent disasters along the whole river."

India and China have had an Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) in place since 2006 to discuss issues related to transboundary rivers, under which China shares hydrological data on the Brahmaputra and Sutlej during the flood season. However, this cooperation has seen setbacks-particularly after the 2020 border tensions in eastern Ladakh.

In Bangladesh, too, questions have surfaced about the dam’s downstream effects. Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen, during a meeting on July 21 with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, assured Dhaka that the project is "solely for electricity generation" and "will not withdraw or use any water."