THE Brahmaputra River is Asia’s mightiest river, originating from the Himalayas, near Mount Kailash in Tibet. The river flows from the Tibetan Plateau, entering India at Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang River, then becomes the Brahmaputra in Assam and Jamuna in Bangladesh eventually falling into the Bay of Bengal. In its upper course, it is also known as either Tsang Po or Yarlung Zangbo, meaning “purifier”. This transboundary river supports the living of millions of people across China, India and Bangladesh through agriculture, fishery, water and hydropower. However, the river’s journey across multiple sensitive borders has turned it into a point of geopolitical contention.

China, being the upstream riparian state and claims Arunachal Pradesh as “South Tibet”, has an edge as it controls the flow of water and India heavily depends on its flow. Unlike the Indus Water Treaty there is no treaty or institutional framework between India and China over the........

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