China begins mega dam construction in Tibet amid India's concerns
'No one knows what China might do. It could even use this as a sort of water bomb… In case, the dam is built and they release water out suddenly, our entire Siang belt would be destroyed,' Khandu had stated.
In the light of this threat, he said the Arunachal government, in consultations with the Centre, had conceived the Siang Upper Multipurpose Project as a defence mechanism as well as for water security.
While Khandu is also apprehensive about China's possible attempts to dry up Siang and Brahmaputra rivers, the Assam chief minister took it lightly.
He said China contributes only 30-35% of Brahmaputra's total flow, mostly through glacial melt and limited Tibetan rainfall.
'The remaining 65-70% is generated within India, thanks to torrential monsoon rainfall in Arunachal, Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya; major tributaries like Subansiri, Lohit, Kameng, Manas, Dhansiri, Jia-Bharali, Kopili; and additional inflows from the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia Hills via rivers such as Krishnai, Digaru, and Kulsi,' Sarma had posted on X on June 2.
'The Brahmaputra is not a river India depends on upstream -- it is a rain-fed Indian river system, strengthened after entering Indian territory,' he had further stated.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
27 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
India, Britain seal trade deal to bring down tariffs, barriers; keep dairy out
NEW DELHI: India and Britain on Thursday signed a trade deal that is expected to boost two-way commerce by $35 billion in the long run, cut tariffs on goods ranging from textiles to whisky and enhance market access, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Keir Starmer unveiled the Vision 2035 strategy to drive collaboration in defence, technology, climate and migration. Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands after Britain's secretary of state for business and trade, Jonathan Reynolds and India's commerce minister Piyush Goyal, signed a free trade agreement at Chequers near Aylesbury, England on July 24 (via REUTERS) The two sides also unveiled plans to negotiate a Double Contribution Convention (DCC) to give a fillip to the services sector, especially finance and technology, by exempting employers of Indian workers from paying social security contributions in the UK for three years, and a Defence Industrial Roadmap for closer cooperation on military hardware. The DCC will come into force alongside the trade deal. India and Britain finalised the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement in May after more than three years of negotiations, and the pact was signed by commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his UK counterpart Jonathan Reynolds during Modi's visit to Britain. The two sides gave a push to the negotiations amid economic turmoil unleashed by US President Donald Trump's tariff policies to overcome long-standing differences on issues such as levies on British alcohol and automobiles, and access to India's markets. Modi described the deal as 'not just an economic partnership, but a plan for shared prosperity' that will benefit India's youth, farmers, fishermen and MSME sector. Starmer said the agreement is the 'biggest and most economically significant trade deal' concluded by the UK since leaving the European Union (EU) in 2020 and also 'one of the most comprehensive deals' by India. Speaking at a media interaction with Starmer, Modi said: 'On the one hand, Indian textiles, footwear, gems and jewellery, seafood and engineering goods will get better market access in the UK. New opportunities will be created in the UK market for India's agricultural produce and processed food industry.' He added, 'On the other hand, products made in the UK, such as medical devices and aerospace parts, will be available to the people and industry of India at accessible and affordable rates.' The DCC, Modi said, will give new energy to the services sectors of both sides by boosting the ease of doing business. 'Along with this, the UK economy will get Indian skilled talent,' he said. He added that the deal between two democratic countries and major economies will strengthen global stability and prosperity. Starmer said that, apart from benefiting whisky distillers in Scotland and the services sector in London, Manchester, and Leeds, the deal will lower prices on Indian goods, including clothes, shoes, and food. 'It will add about £4.8 billion to the UK economy every year and £2.2 billion to wages and hundreds of millions of pounds to regions and nations up and down the UK,' he added. The India-UK Vision 2035, aimed at renewing the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, will serve as a roadmap for a reliable partnership in technology, defence, climate, education, and people-to-people connect, Modi said. The two sides will also work to strengthen their Technology Security Initiative, launched a year ago to drive cooperation in telecom, critical minerals, IA, semiconductors, quantum computing and biotech. The trade deal provides near-complete tariff elimination for 99% of Indian exports, unlocking opportunities for labour-intensive sectors, processed food items and other high-tariff segments where India has a competitive edge. For instance, duties on 99.7% of tariff lines for processed food items will fall from as high as 70% to zero, and for animal products, from the range of 20% to zero for 99.3% of tariff lines. Other sectors where duties will be cut to zero are marine products (20%), transport and automobiles (18%) leather and footwear (16%), electrical machinery (14%), and aluminium (10%). The elimination of tariffs on textiles and clothing, from the current level of 12%, will enhance India's competitiveness against players such as Bangladesh and Vietnam and boost exports of value-added garments. Exporters of seafood, dairy and meat products are expected to benefit from the cut in levies on animal and marine products. In addition to cutting tariffs, the deal will streamline trade protocols and ensure protection for India's agricultural sector, which is the cornerstone of rural livelihoods and economic security, officials said. The benefits for Indian farmers in UK markets will match or exceed those enjoyed by exporters from Germany, the Netherlands and other EU members, and agricultural exports are forecast to rise by 20% in the next three years, they said. The FTA excludes India's most sensitive agricultural segments, with no tariff concessions on dairy products, apples, oats and edible oils. These exclusions, the officials said, reflect India's calibrated trade strategy that prioritises food security, domestic price stability and protection of vulnerable farmers. The deal's sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures will help Indian exporters meet British standards and reduce rejections, the officials said. In the services sector, Indian service providers are expected to benefit from opportunities in the UK, especially in management consultancy, computer-related services and education services. The deal also eases mobility for Indian professionals, including contractual service suppliers working on projects in the UK, yoga instructors and chefs. The inclusion of a first-of-its-kind trade and gender chapter in the trade deal aims to empower Indian women and ensure gender inclusion, with targeted support for women-led enterprises and workers. India-UK trade in goods and services was worth $57.8 billion (£42.6 billion) in January-December 2024, representing an 8.3% increase from 2023. India's imports from the UK totalled £17.1 billion, while its exports to the UK were worth £25.5 billion. Total bilateral trade in goods was worth £17.8 billion in 2024, while total bilateral trade in services amounted to £24.8 billion. India was Britain's 11th largest trading partner in this period, accounting for 2.4% of the UK's total trade. India's key exports to Britain include textiles, apparel and clothing accessories, pharmaceutical products, telecom and sound equipment, refined oil, electrical and electronic equipment, machinery appliances, iron and steel, and gems and jewellery. India's main imports from the UK are non-ferrous metals, metal ores and scrap, industrial machinery, transport equipment, beverages and tobacco, electrical machinery and appliances, professional and scientific instruments, and chemicals. Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises and co-chair of the India-UK CEO Forum, who is heading a delegation of 16 Indian business leaders accompanying the Prime Minister, said Indian industry welcomed the trade deal with 'great optimism'. The business delegation was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 'This agreement establishes a modern, forward-looking partnership that will stimulate innovation, ease market access and foster investment. Businesses in India as well as the UK stand to gain tremendously, as it lays the groundwork for scaling up bilateral cooperation across key growth sectors,' Mittal said. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) also welcomed the trade deal, with its president, Harsha Vardhan Agarwal, stating that it marked a key milestone in India's evolving trade architecture. 'It complements the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat by empowering domestic industries to scale globally, engage competitively, and leverage value chains more effectively,' he said. Tufan Erginbilgic, the CEO of Rolls-Royce Plc, hailed the free trade agreement as a landmark in bilateral cooperation. 'We welcome the new UK-India roadmap for closer collaboration on defence, technology and innovation. Rolls-Royce is growing its aerospace capabilities in India, and we look forward to working with Indian partners to co-develop power and propulsion technologies for India and the world,' he said.
Hindustan Times
27 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Don't worry about it': PM Modi calms translator struggling to speak Hindi at presser in UK
While signing the landmark free trade agreement on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Keir Starmer shared a candid moment with a translator as she seemingly struggled to translate a sentence properly from English to Hindi. The India UK free trade agreement was signed by commerce ministers of the countries in presence of PM Modi and his British counterpart Keir Starmer. (Bloomberg) A video of the moment, which happened when both the leaders were addressing the press, has surfaced. In the video, as the translator struggled to speak Hindi, PM Modi jumped in to help her and said, 'Don't bother, we can use English words in between. Don't worry about it." To this, the translator is heard apologising and Modi again reassures her with a 'don't worry'. Also read: Kolhapuri chappals, Goa's feni: Big boost for these Indian products after India-UK FTA Later, Keir Starmer also says, "I think we understand each other well.' India-UK trade deal After around three years of negotiations, India and UK finally signed a free trade agreement, with both countries slashing tariffs on each other among other major steps to enhance trade relations between them. Also read: Duty on single malt cut by half: What gets cheaper with key India-UK trade deal Under the agreement, 99% of Indian exports will get duty-free access to the UK market, unlocking nearly $23 billion in opportunities for labour-intensive sectors. This will 'mark a new era for inclusive and gender-equitable growth,' said commerce minister Piyush Mishra. Lauding the trade deal, PM Modi said in a post on X (formerly twitter), "A new chapter begins today in the India-UK economic partnership! The signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) reflects our shared commitment to enhancing trade, driving inclusive growth and creating opportunities for farmers, women, youth, MSMEs, and professionals." UK PM Keir Starmer also wrote, 'A landmark deal with India means jobs, investment and growth here in the UK. It creates thousands of British jobs, unlocks new opportunities for businesses and puts money in the pockets of working people. That's our Plan for Change in action.'
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Rights group gives Muslim slant to India's fight against illegal immigrants
New York-based international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused India of "unlawfully expelling hundreds of Muslims" to Bangladesh, alleging that the country's crackdown on undocumented immigrants was being carried out with a communal bias. The human rights group even alleged that Indian nationals, particularly Muslims, were among those deported to Bangladesh. India as a sovereign nation has the right to expel illegal immigrants, and the Supreme Court had in May ruled that Rohingyas found to be foreigners under Indian law must be HRW report, released on July 23, comes at a time when India has reportedly stepped up its crackdown on illegal immigrants, mostly from Bangladesh, whose presence has long burdened the country's civic infrastructure and created security and experts say the demography of dozens of districts in states like Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand has changed due to illegal immigration. Illegal immigration from Bangladesh has altered the ethnic and religious composition, marginalising indigenous communities, they claim. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is inaugurating a portal that will help eligible members of indigenous communities procure arms licences in areas where they are per the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) 2016 data, there are around 20 million illegal Bangladeshi migrants staying in government had said way back in 2016 that deportation of illegally staying foreign nationals is a continuous process and the powers of identification, detention and deportation of illegal foreign nationals, including Bangladeshi nationals, have been delegated to the State Governments and Union Territories Administration under Section 3(2)(c) of the Foreigners Act, HRW report comes over two months after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on May 22 that India had asked Bangladesh to verify the nationality of 2,369 "illegal migrants" for deportation. Some of these cases, the MEA noted, have been pending for over five government action has legal backing May 8, the Supreme Court observed that if Rohingya people in India are found to be foreigners under Indian law, they must be deported. The Centre maintained that India was not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention and that the validity of UNHCR-issued refugee cards is HAVE INTENSIFIED DRIVE AFTER PAHALGAM ATTACKAfter the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asked states to intensify the drive against undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to a June 7 report in The Indian efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, particularly from Bangladesh, are rooted in concerns over national border states like Assam and West Bengal, the issue is also politically sensitive, with concerns that individuals possessing fraudulent identification documents may even illegally participate in the electoral must be noted that a top officer of Bangladesh's border-guarding force, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), in late May termed India's handing over of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants "unacceptable". Brigadier General Md Nazim-ud-Daula said the army was prepared to intervene if instructed by the has been handing over such individuals to BGB personnel along the sovereign nation, including the US, where the HRW is based, ensures proper documentation and legal pathways for migration and New York-based NGO's report, however, seemingly overlooks these broader national concerns, focussing instead on individual accounts without fully addressing the complexities of border management and the socio-political realities on the report's singular focus on Muslims appears to reflect a selective narrative, raising concerns about potential bias in its portrayal of the broader DOES THE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT SAY?The HRW report alleged that since May 2025, the government has intensified operations to expel hundreds of ethnic Bengali-speaking Muslims to Bangladesh, claiming they are "illegal immigrants".It also alleged that these expulsions, targeting mostly impoverished migrant workers, lack due process and violate domestic and international human rights human rights advocacy group claimed that many expelled individuals are Indian citizens from states like Assam and West must be noted that the Indian government has provided no official data on the number of people expelled, but HRW said that the BGB stated that between May 7 and June 15, India expelled over 1,500 Muslim men, women, and children, including approximately 100 Rohingya from Myanmar, with expulsions claimed it interviewed 18 affected individuals and family members in June, documenting cases of "Indian citizens" expelled and later readmitted after proving some stray cases have been reported, the government has not released any official information on AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN BJP STATES: HRWHuman Rights Watch claimed that the operation to round up Muslims, mostly impoverished migrant workers, without verifying citizenship, was going on only in BJP-run states like Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, and the crackdown on illegal immigrants has been a continuous process since at least 2016, as per the report highlighted "Muslims" especially, giving a communal colour to India's fight against illegal immigrants. It claimed that in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, authorities targeted Bengali-speaking migrant political parties, like the Trinamool Congress, has alleged that migrant workers from the state were being harassed in BJP-ruled HRW claimed that in Mumbai, police destroyed the identity documents of a Muslim man and coerced him into claiming Bangladeshi nationality. Meanwhile, in Gujarat, the advocacy group said, that India demolished over 10,000 structures, claiming they housed "illegal immigrants".In Odisha and Rajasthan, the NGO claimed it detained hundreds arbitrarily, including tribal community to HRW, some detainees alleged that Border Security Force (BSF) officials used threats, beatings, and, in some instances, forced them across the border at BSF has also not issued an official response to the has named individuals it alleges were Indian citizens, with their citizenship cases still pending before the Supreme is Bengali-speaking Muslims from Bangladesh who have migrated illegally into India in millions, but stating that India's drive to detect those staying in India illegally as targeting Muslims is incorrect, and shows an inherent bias among western agencies and rights groups.- Ends
