New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday returned to the story of Pakistan’s latest water, calling it a “baseless effort” to incite fear on a fictional state associated with the Brahmaputra river.Responding to the stimulating question, “What if China stops the Brahmaputra water for India?”, Sarma released a fact-driven refutiny in a strong word post on X. Their response came when India suspended the Indus Water Treaty in a diplomatic step after the Pakistan-posed terror attack in Pahgam.“India decisively moved away from the old Indus Water Treaty, Pakistan is now spinning another built threat” Sarma wrote on X.He said, “Destroy this myth, not with fear, but with facts and national clarity,” he said, Brahmaputra is an Indian river that moves the strength downwards, not less than an upstream effect.Sarma revealed that China contributes about 30 to 35 percent of the flow of Brahmaputra, mainly with glacial melted and limited rainfall on the Tibetan plateau. In contrast, 65 to 70 percent of the amount of river originates within India, thanks to the monsoon rains and tributaries in the Northeast.Using hydrological data, the Chief Minister said that when the river flows between 2,000 and 3,000 cubic meters per second in the Indo-China border (tutting), it dramatically swells up to 15,000–20,000 meters/s in Assam during the monsoon season. This, he said, India proves the major role in maintaining the river.Sarma said, “Brahmaputra is not a river, it depends on upstream. It is a less Indian river system than a rain, which is stronger after entering Indian territory.”He further argued that in the unexpected incident, China tried to reduce the flow of the river, it could also benefit India by reducing the annual floods in Assam which displaces hundreds of thousands of people.Sarma also stated that China has never officially threatened to make Brahmaputra weapons and dismissed such speculation as frightening.Taking a direct swipe in Pakistan, he commented that the country, which has long been dependent on the Indus Water Treaty, is now “nervous” because India claims its water sovereignty.“Brahmaputra is not controlled by the same source. It is powered by our geography, our monsoon and our civilization flexibility,” he said.The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river that originates from the Mansarovar region near Mount Kailash in South-Western China. It flows through Tibet, enters India in Arunachal Pradesh, and continues through Assam before making its way in Bangladesh, where it eventually gets vacant in the Bay of Bengal.
