Washington: Despite numerous natural disasters, China's “water-industrial complex” continues to move ahead with plans for developing hydropower dams in ecologically and politically sensitive areas of the Tibetan plateau, a report detailed on Wednesday citing Beijing's mega Medog Hydropower Station project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet.   

The dam is in close proximity to Arunachal Pradesh in India and it is clear that this is a geopolitical flashpoint and not just an environmental issue, detailed a report in Washington-based online publication.

"Beijing has started building the world’s largest dam in Tibet, the Medog project on the Yarlung Tsangpo, a significant engineering feat if completed. But without any consultation or a water-sharing agreement, China now controls the lifeline of northeast India and parts of Bangladesh. This river flows downstream into India as the Brahmaputra and further into Bangladesh as the Jamuna, supporting millions of livelihoods," The National Interest (TNI) stated in a report.

Apart from India and Bangladesh, several downstream nations, including Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam are likely to be impacted by China's rising control over the Tibetan Plateau and its aggressive dam-developing activities in the region, wrote Jagannath Panda, a leading expert on Indo-Pacific affairs, and Shruti Kapil, head of the Security and Mutual Dependence Desk at London's International Centre for Sustainability (ICfS), in their report titled 'How the UK Can Help the Himalayan Water Crisis'.

"The potential repercussions of this dam are enormous. During the monsoon season, sudden water releases could trigger catastrophic floods in India’s northeast. In the dry season, upstream control could result in crippling droughts. Add to this the dam’s location in a highly seismic region and its proximity to Arunachal Pradesh, and it becomes clear that this is not just an environmental issue, but a geopolitical flashpoint," the report mentioned.

It urged the United Kingdom, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to recognise the Himalayan water crisis as a looming threat to global security even as climate change reshapes the geopolitical landscape. Considering its renewed Indo-Pacific ambitions, Britain is "uniquely placed" to elevate Himalayan ecological degradation from a local and regional concern to a global priority, the report emphasised.

"Melting glaciers, climate-induced variability, and unregulated dam construction in the Himalayas are placing millions of lives at risk in South and Southeast Asia. This must not go unnoticed in Westminster, especially when it has been a traditional stakeholder and a historical player in the Himalayas," the report stated.

The National Interest report detailed that even though the Himalayan region holds largest reserves of fresh water and its glaciers feed 10 of the world’s most important river systems, it still continues to remain under severe threat.

"Climate change is accelerating glacial melt in the mountain range at an alarming pace, altering monsoon patterns, and intensifying the frequency of extreme weather events. The result is a region gripped by water stress, food insecurity, and heightened geopolitical (including boundary dispute) tensions, particularly between India and China."

Water insecurity in the Himalayas, the report said, directly threatens the stability of the Indo-Pacific, an area that the UK has repeatedly termed central to its future economic and security interests. While the 2021 Integrated Review and its subsequent refresh have emphasised the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific, UK's vision is compromised without stability in the Himalayas, the report said.

"Moreover, the UK has a long-standing commitment to upholding a rules-based international order. China’s opaque, unilateral approach to managing transboundary rivers in the Himalayas directly undermines that principle. The weaponization of water, as we are now witnessing, sets a dangerous precedent not only in Asia but also worldwide," wrote Panda and Kapil.

(IANS)