Will help check floods if Brahmaputra flow halted by China, Sarma snubs Pak

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said even if China were to stop the Brahmaputra waters into the country, it would only help mitigate the flood situation in the state.

Sarma was responding to Pakistan's latest narrative around "what if China stopped the flow of the Brahmaputra into India?”

Posting on X his "response to Pakistan’s new scare narrative around what if China stopped the Brahmaputra flow into India", Sarma said after India decisively moved away from the outdated Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan was spinning another manufactured threat.

“What if China stops the Brahmaputra waters.... Let’s dismantle this myth—not with fear, but with facts and national clarity. The Brahmaputra is a river that grows in India and does not shrink in India. China contributes only 30–35 per cent of the Brahmaputra’s total flow—mostly through glacial melt and limited Tibetan rainfall," Sarma said.

He said the remaining 65–70 per cent was generated within India, thanks to torrential monsoon rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Meghalaya.

PM dials heads of flood-hit states

PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang and Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla on the situation arising due to heavy rainfall and floods in the region. At least 34 persons are feared dead in the floods in Northeast. The PM assured all support to the states in addressing the flood fury.

"At the India-China border (Tuting), the flow is 2,000–3,000 m³/s. In Assam plains such as Guwahati, the flow swells to 15,000–20,000 m³/s during monsoons. The Brahmaputra is not a river India depends on upstream but a rain-fed river system that is strengthened after entering the Indian territory," Assam CM said.

He said "the truth that Pakistan should know is that even if China were to reduce water flow, which is unlikely as China has never threatened or indicated in any official forum, it may actually help India mitigate the annual floods in Assam, which displace lakhs and destroy livelihoods every year."

"Meanwhile, Pakistan, which has exploited 74 years of preferential water access under the Indus Waters Treaty, now panics as India rightfully reclaims its sovereign rights. Let’s remind them that the Brahmaputra is not controlled by a single source but is powered by our geography, our monsoon and our civilisational resilience," he said.