Tensions hyped as Dalai Lama visits

• Source: Global Times
• [08:01 November 06 2009]
• Comments

"What I want to say is that this matter has been taken up not just once but on a number of occasions with China, and China has consistently denied that it is engaged in any such construction activity on the Brahmaputra," she said.

"The point where they were making a dam is 1,100 kilometers away from our boundary. It's a small dam and no reservoir as such. They already have about 15 dams there, which they are using for local purposes," Indian water resources Minister P K Bansal told the Press Trust of India.

Meanwhile, commenting on the appearance of Chinese troops in southern Tibet, Indian Major General SS Jog, Commander of the Red Horn Division, said, "There is some sort of exercise, which they generally (carry out) during this particular time of year. They have done a few exercises, and certain amounts of troops have come in but it's a normal routine exercise."

There has been a flurry of reports in Indian media of Chinese incursions across the border, which have been shrugged off by both the Indian and Chinese governments, the ANI news agency said Wednesday.

"Many India media like to talk about China as a threat to India," Hu Shisheng, a researcher at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.

"This, I see, is a lack of confidence. This trend almost forms a set pattern of reporting. It is also possible that by calling China a threat, India is actually paving the way for a strong army," Hu added.

Senior journalists from Phoenix TV said Wednesday that inaccurate reports on many sensitive issues between China and India may lead to misunderstandings between the two countries and therefore put pressure on the governments' handling of relations.

Agencies contributed to this story