Brahmaputra issue: China may seek to muddy waters, says report

China could try to play Dhaka against New Delhi during river water negotiations on the Brahmaputra, which courses from the Tibetan region to India's northeast, flowing into Bangladesh, reports The Times of India.

Beijing may also try to use the Brahmaputra issue to push forward its One Belt, One Road or the Silk Road programme - that focuses on connectivity and cooperation between China and the rest of Eurasia - which India has not embraced enthusiastically.

Communist Party of China organ the Global Times, frequently used by the Communist Party to spread ideas and doubts in international diplomacy, commented, "It's understandable that India may want to reach a deal with China over the construction of dams and the sharing of hydrological data, but Bangladesh should also enjoy similar rights to protect its interests against India."

Sources told ToI Beijing is trying to encourage Dhaka to take up cudgels against India over sharing of Brahmaputra waters. "Just as China's dams on the Yarlung Zangbo arouse vigilance in India, India's efforts to exploit the river - which are no less ambitious than China's - have sparked concerns downstream in Bangladesh," the paper said.

It also advised the Chinese government to take advantage of negotiations over Brahmaputra to press for the Silk Road programme - one of the cornerstones of which is the China Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC.

It suggested that the Lan cang-Mekong cooperation mechanism used to resolve disputes along trans-boundary rivers covering China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia should be used as a model for settling the Brahmaputra issue with India.

China has successfully exploited apprehensions within Nepal's political elite to create business opportunities for itself in recent months, and also eyed defence cooperation in recent times.