China says unable to share river data with India

Beijing:  China on Tuesday said it is unable to share river data with India, owing to the renovation of water statistics centre in Tibet from where the Brahmaputra River flows.
“For a long time, we have conducted cooperation on the river data with the Indian side. But to upgrade and renovate the relevant station in the Chinese side, we do not have the conditions now to collect the relevant statistics of the river,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.
Last month, India had said it was yet to receive hydrological data on Brahmaputra River from China according to an official understanding. Some Indian experts said China withheld hydrological data because of the then military stand-off at Doklam in the Sikkim sector.
The Brahmaputra River originates from China’s Tibet and flows flow into Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and for India, hydrological data is helpful in preparing for the floods, which wreaked havoc in its northeast states.
To a question when China will release the data, Geng said: “We will consider that later.”
He also said that Indian government knows China’s position.(IANS)