The external affairs ministry has flagged China’s decision to establish two new counties in Hotan Prefecture, which falls within India-claimed AksaiChin, and to build the world’s largest hydropower dam on the Brahmaputra.

Both developments were reported by Xinhua, China’s official news agency, over the past week, raising concern in Delhi.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters at the weekly briefing on Friday that India has lodged a “solemn protest” with the Chinese side on the establishment of the two counties and urged Beijing to ensure that the interests of the downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in the upstream areas.

On December 25, Xinhua quoted an official statement to report that the Chinese government had approved the construction of a hydropower project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo river, the Tibetan name for the Brahmaputra. Reuters reported that the project on the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau could affect millions downstream in India and Bangladesh.

“The dam… could produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, according to an estimate provided by the Power Construction Corp of China in 2020. That would more than triple the 88.2 billion kWh designed capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world’s largest, in central China," the Reuters report said.

Elaborating on India’s concerns, Jaiswal said: “As a lower riparian state with established user rights to the waters of the river, we have consistently expressed, through expert-level as well as diplomatic channels our views and concerns to the Chinese side over mega projects on rivers in their territory. These have been iterated, along with the need for transparency and consultation with downstream countries, following the latest report.

“The Chinese side has been urged to ensure that the interests of the downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas. We will continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect our interests.”

On the new counties in the Hotan Prefecture, Jaiswal noted that parts of the jurisdiction of “these so-called counties” fall in the Union Territory of Ladakh. “We have never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Indian territory in this area. Creation of new counties will neither have a bearing on India’s long-standing and consistent position regarding our sovereignty over the area nor lend legitimacy to China’s illegal and forcible occupation of the same.’’