New Delhi: China has denied reports that it is planning to divert the course of Brahmaputra river, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Rajya Sabha today.
The Minister was replying to a question on recent reports indicating Beijing\'s plan to divert water from Yarlung Zangbo river, which on entering India is known as Brahmaputra, to the Yellow river in North-West China by constructing a dam.

\"The Government has taken up the issue (reports of construction of dam) with the Chinese side. The spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Ambassador to India have denied such plans,\" he said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour.

The Minister said the issue relating to trans-border rivers flowing from Tibet into India was discussed during the recent visit of the Chinese President to India.

\"In the Joint Declaration issued on November 21, 2006 during the visit, the two sides agreed to set up an expert-level mechanism to discuss interaction and cooperation on the provision of flood season hydrological data, emergency management and other issues regarding trans-border rivers,\" he said.

Mukherjee said there were reports that China planned to build a 40,000 MW hydro-electric power plant and a dam on the Yarlung Zangbo river and divert 200 billion cubic meters of water to the Yellow river.

\"If this project fructifies, it is bound to have repercussions (on India).

\"We have taken it up with the Chinese authorities who have said there are no plans to that effect,\" he said adding the information with India from other sources also indicate that actual construction had not started.