E-Paper
BRICS must address Himalayan climate risks, says Vikramaditya
Vikramaditya Singh said the recent disasters in the Himalayan region, including the tragedy in Nepal in which around 1,200 deaths have been reported, should lead to a wider conversation among countries sharing the Himalayan ecosystem
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Public works minister Vikramaditya Singh said that climate change, Himalayan disasters, cross-border developmental activities and their impact on India’s Himalayan states should form part of the BRICS dialogue.
Singh said the Himalayan region was undergoing rapid changes because of construction and hydropower activities on both sides of the international borders and that disasters witnessed in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Nepal showed that ecological issues could no longer be treated as the concern of individual countries.
“There are no two opinions that the landscape is continuously changing and construction and hydropower projects are coming up both on this side and the other side of the border, particularly in China and the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Because of this, destruction is taking place on a massive scale,” Singh said.
He said the recent disasters in the Himalayan region, including the tragedy in Nepal in which around 1,200 deaths have been reported, should lead to a wider conversation among countries sharing the Himalayan ecosystem.
“Ultimately, this is not an issue of one country. It is an issue of the entire region, particularly the Himalayan belt, and China is a very dominant player in this region,” he said.
Singh said India should use platforms such as BRICS to initiate discussions with China on developmental activities, disaster management and climate-related emergencies in the Himalayan region.
