China's Dam Project Stirs Trouble with India

India's worried. China's massive dam plan in Tibet might slash water flow on a key river by 85% when it's dry. Delhi isn't waiting around – they're pushing their own dam projects forward. Fast.

The Angsi Glacier waters are life itself. Over 100 million people depend on them across three countries. India's been eyeing control options for years. But the locals in Arunachal Pradesh? They're fighting back. Their villages would drown. Their lives would change forever. Not exactly a minor concern.

Then China dropped the bomb. They want to build the world's biggest hydropower dam right before the river crosses into India. The Yarlung Zangbo – or Siang and Brahmaputra as Indians call it – could become a weapon in Beijing's hands. At least that's what New Delhi fears.

India's response was kind of dramatic. Their biggest hydropower company hauled survey equipment to a potential dam site. With armed police escorts, no less. The Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage Dam would be massive. Officials have been meeting about it. Even Modi's office got involved.

It seems this water fight is just another chapter in their border saga. The Line of Actual Control remains tense. China still claims parts of Arunachal Pradesh – not subtle about it either. Both sides have been building up their border stuff since 2020. Small clashes keep happening, even into 2025. Diplomats talk, but not much changes.

The whole mess traces back to the McMahon Line from 1914. The Simla Convention thing. China never liked it. Tawang remains particularly sticky. And that 1962 war? Not entirely helpful in sorting things out. Now two nuclear powers stare each other down across a line neither fully accepts.