“Brahmaputra is not controlled by a single source — it is powered by our geography, our monsoon, and our civilisational resilience”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on June 3 delivered a sharp rebuttal to Pakistan’s latest attempt to stir fear over India’s water security, dismissing the neighbouring country’s claims that China could block the flow of the Brahmaputra river as “manufactured panic” rooted in ignorance.
The Chief Minister’s response came after a growing narrative in Pakistani media and diplomatic circles suggested that Beijing might retaliate against India’s re-evaluation of the Indus Waters Treaty by cutting off water from the Brahmaputra — a major river system in Northeast India that originates in Tibet, where it is known as the Yarlung Tsangpo.
Taking to social media, Sarma posted a detailed explanation titled: “What If China Stops Brahmaputra Water to India? A Response to Pakistan’s New Scare Narrative”, in which he dismantled the claim point by point.
Brahmaputra: A River That Grows, Not Shrinks, in India
“The Brahmaputra is not a river India depends on upstream — it is a rain-fed Indian river system, strengthened after entering Indian territory,” the Chief Minister wrote, asserting that India generates the majority of the river’s water flow.
According to data he cited, China only contributes roughly 30–35 per cent of the Brahmaputra’s total volume, primarily due to glacial melt and sparse rainfall on the Tibetan plateau. The remaining 65–70 per cent of the water is entirely from India, especially from the heavy monsoon rains that fall in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland. The river is further fed by major tributaries such as the Subansiri, Lohit, Kameng, Manas, Dhansiri, Jia-Bharali, and Kopili, as well as numerous smaller rivers descending from the Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia Hills.
According to CM Sarma, the Brahmaputra’s discharge at the India-China border in Tuting is approximately 2,000–3,000 cubic metres per second, but this swells to 15,000–20,000 cubic metres per second in Assam during the monsoon months — a tenfold increase due to Indian rainfall and tributary inflow.
A counter-narrative
Taking a dig at Islamabad, CM Sarma remarked, “Pakistan is now spinning another manufactured threat after India moved away from the outdated Indus Waters Treaty.”
He further noted that even if China were to hypothetically reduce the flow of the river, it could inadvertently help reduce Assam’s annual flood burden, which affects lakhs of people and causes large-scale damage each year.
“Brahmaputra is not controlled by a single source — it is powered by our geography, our monsoon, and our civilisational resilience,” the Chief Minister stated, calling on citizens not to fall for fear-based misinformation.
India’s firm stand on water sovereignty
India’s move to re-evaluate the Indus Waters Treaty, which has long favoured Pakistan despite repeated hostilities, has clearly unsettled Islamabad. Pakistan has had preferential access to river waters for more than 70 years, and CM Sarma emphasised that the country is now responding uneasily as India claims its sovereign rights over its natural resources. “Let’s remind them: The Brahmaputra is not theirs to worry about — it is India’s lifeline, shaped by our rains, our land, and our people,” the Chief Minister said, closing her post.
Public Support and Hashtags Netizens praised the Chief Minister for his assertiveness and clarity on national interests after Sarma’s post, which featured the hashtag #BrahmaputraTruth, went viral. His claims were also supported by policy experts and water resource scholars, highlighting the importance of fact-based discourse in regional geopolitics.
