India is facing the consequences of its own water weaponization strategy, as China’s colossal hydropower project on the Brahmaputra River near Arunachal Pradesh exposes New Delhi to the same insecurity it once used against its neighbors.
The $168 billion mega-dam, set to become the world’s largest, could drastically alter river flows, affecting millions in India’s northeast.
Strategic analysts say this marks a turning point: India, long accused of using the Indus Waters Treaty as leverage against Pakistan, is now on the receiving end of hydrological coercion. Opposition parties have criticized the Modi government’s silence, warning of a future where China could engineer floods or droughts to exert pressure.
With upper-riparian dominance now in Beijing’s hands, calls are growing for India to reconsider its own practices, including holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, as the Brahmaputra becomes a stark symbol of regional water politics turned on its head.
