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WATER POLITICS

Via Qatar’s The Peninsula, a report that India and China are engaged in talks to monitor the glaciers in the Himalayas, a strategic border region, and plans to collaborate in climate change negotiations.  As the article notes:

“…We are talking to the Chinese about monitoring the Himalayan glaciers,” Minister for State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh told Britain’s Financial Times.

Ramesh’s remarks come ahead of the two-day boundary talks between India and China that start August 7.

Ramesh, however, clarified that India would not allow Chinese scientists “to climb all over India’s glaciers” but wanted a collaborative research programme on water resources between academic bodies of the two sides. He underlined that New Delhi is open to dialogue on water resources with Beijing as the two countries had shared concerns.

The Himalayan glaciers feed seven of the world’s greatest rivers, including the Ganges and the Yangtze, and supply water to about 40 percent of the world’s population.”