The military is awaiting the government’s go-ahead for the move aimed at countering Beijing’s geopolitical narratives
Geopolitical manoeuvring between China and India, particularly over the sensitive issues of water resources and territorial claims, highlights the complex dynamics of the region. China’s recent gesture of gifting water to the Maldives from the Tibetan glaciers, while promoting water conservation campaigns in Tibet, has once again drawn attention to its strategic objectives vis a vis environmental concerns arising out of its actions.
China’s alleged exploitation of Tibet’s water resources, coupled with its attempts to alter the narrative through renaming and territorial claims, has met with opposition from India. In response, New Delhi has considered similar tactics, including renaming places in Tibet, as a form of diplomatic retaliation.
The strategic implications of these actions extend beyond mere symbolism, reflecting the broader competition for influence and control in the Himalayan region. With both countries vying for dominance and asserting their respective narratives, tensions persist, necessitating a careful balance of diplomatic and strategic manoeuvres.
As India weighs its response and the Narendra Modi government considers its options, the situation underscores the delicate balance of power and the imperative of strategic foresight in navigating complex geopolitical challenges.
In a heightened effort to woo the Maldives, China has gifted 3,000 metric tonnes of water from the Tibetan glaciers to the island nation, in two separate batches in March and May. The move has put China in a peculiar situation. Incidentally, on March 20, barely a week before the first consignment of water was sent, China had unveiled the country’s water conservation regulations.
Effective from May 1, the regulations aim to provide a legal guarantee for China’s water security, the advancement of ecological progress and high-quality development. Adhering to the vision that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, China has taken multiple steps to protect its water resources and restore harmonious ecological systems.
Beijing, in a social media campaign, has been asking residents across Tibet to conserve water. Multiple social media posts claim that in Sa’gya County, Tibetans are urged to conserve water—this at a time when bottled water companies allegedly exploit the pristine waters of Tibet for profit at the cost of ecological damage.
However, China observers claim that Tibet’s water resources are comparatively in higher quantity vis- -vis China. Beijing has been exploiting these resources, which are extremely vulnerable to climate change, biodiversity, and species housing rare flora and fauna, as well as the intangible Buddhist heritage associated with the rivers in Tibet.
The majority of Chinese bottled water companies, such as Nongfu Spring, in alleged nexus with cadre of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in Tibet, are exploiting the water resources of the plateau region. This is in addition to existing and proposed river water transfer projects.
Observers feel that while New Delhi has donated potable water to the Maldives in the past, it has not damaged the fragile ecology of the Himalayas for such procurement for Male.
It is claimed that China’s move to send “glacial water” from Tibet to the Maldives also serves its ulterior political motive of getting Male to help formalise Tibet’s name as the Beijing-preferred ‘Xizang’, and let the world accept the former in the years to come, as has been the case with East Turkestan, now called ‘Xinjiang’.
China has been pushing narratives by changing the names of the places, including Arunachal Pradesh, multiple times. China claims Arunachal as its territory by referring to it as ‘Zangnan’ or southern Tibet. China has rechristened 30 locations in Arunachal with Chinese and Tibetan names. New Delhi has consistently rejected China’s attempts to rename places in Arunachal, asserting that the state is an integral part of India.
Barely a couple of months before the G20 leader’s summit in New Delhi last September, Beijing had played mischief by releasing a new map that asserted territorial claim over Arunachal and Aksai Chin in Ladakh. In the 2023 edition of China’s ‘standard map’, uploaded by its ministry of natural resources on the website of its standard map service website, Aksai Chin and Arunachal are among the south and south-east Asian territories marked within the Chinese borders.
In retaliation, the Indian military has planned similar tactics by changing the names of close to 30 places in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), backed by extensive historical research. However, the Indian military is awaiting a go-ahead from the newly formed Modi government 3.0 before escalating matters. South Block officials believe this is the only way to counter the narrative as China only understands the ‘tit for tat’ language.
Source: indiatoday.in
