Assam CM Gogoi worried over Brahmaputra issue with China

New Delhi, Jun 16: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will meet the external affairs minister S M Krishna on Thursday, Jun 16 over taking up the Brahmaputra issue with China. Worried over the issue that any diversion of the Brahmaputra river by China might affect Assam, he said that he was "very concerned" about the Chinese reports.

China had faced severe challenges like drought and insufficient water resources. According to earlier Chinese reports, it was proposed to divert water from the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River to the country"s northwestern province of Xinjiang. This diversion route was named as “Grand Western Canal". But later, China ruled out plans of river diversion.

Gogoi, in a press conference said that they are "concerned as any diversion of the river may affect my state" as it might hit Assam's agricultural economy. He will meet the external affairs minister on Friday, Jun 17 to discuss this issue.

Gogoi affirmed that it was not a new issue, as it was taken up by the Prime Minister when cropped up earlier. China also cleared that it would not affect downstream areas of Assam, but Gogoi said, "situation keep changing and we have to be careful."

OneIndia News