Dhaka airs concern, Beijing says lower riparians won't be affected

Bangladesh expressed concern over the construction of a mega-dam by China on the Brahmaputra during bilateral talks in Beijing on January 21 and got assurances that lower riparians won't be affected.

Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain, who led the Bangladesh team, disclosed Sunday this and other outcomes of the meeting, adding that China has assured that the construction of the dam will not affect the lower-riparian Bangladesh.

In December last year, the Chinese government sanctioned the development of a hydropower facility on the lower section of the Yarlung Zangbo River, which is the Tibetan name for the Brahmaputra.

The $137 billion mega-infrastructure project to build the largest dam in the world has raised concerns in downstream countries, including India and Bangladesh, over potential impacts on water flow.

Responding to a question he said that a comparative analysis on the foreign loans provided to Bangladesh showed that China's lending rate is not that much higher, rather the lending rate of many other development partners are higher than China's.

"So the issue cannot be pushed strongly but when we raised it, they said they will consider it," Mr Touhid told reporters.

Replying to another question he said that there was no discussion on Dr Yunus's visit to Beijing.

The foreign adviser said China is interested to help Bangladesh in building a big and modern hospital in Bangladesh.

"And we are looking for land in Purbachal Town are for this" he said, adding that China is interested to provide support for another tertiary-level hospital on a private-public-partnership basis.

During the bilateral meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also requested Bangladesh to consider joining President Xi's three global initiatives, namely GDI, GSI and GCI, and in response Bangladesh conveyed intention to examine the proposals and to remain engaged with China in deliberations on the issues, the adviser said.

Both the countries also agreed to collaborate on each other's candidature in multilateral for a, including in the United Nations.

The bilateral talks concluded with the signing of the 'Implementation Plan of the MoU on Exchange of Hydrological Information Sharing of the Yaluzangbu-Jamuna River'.

Mr Touhid said the MoU on water-management cooperation could not be renewed as both sides intended to add some new clauses to the existing memorandum.

The Foreign Adviser also had a meeting with the Minister of International Department of Chinese Communist Party. During the meeting, they discussed Chinese-funded development projects in Bangladesh.

They also talked about the reform initiatives of the interim government in Bangladesh. The Chinese Minister reaffirmed China's continued support to the interim government and peaceful transition to democracy through a free, fair and participatory election.

Mr. Hossain, during his January 21-24 China trip, also held a meeting with the Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) discussing bilateral economic-cooperation issues.

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