Have raised dams issue with China: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said India had raised the issue of dams being built by China upstream on the Brahmaputra and will continue to do draw attention to the issue to have better cooperative arrangements to manage the rivers.

Speaking to reporters on board his special aircraft on return from his US visit, the prime minister said India has raised the matter of dam construction "with the Chinese government every time I have been to China in the last three or four occasions".

"And as of now our understanding is that these are run-of-the-river systems, they do not involve storage and they do not interfere with the flow of water. We will, as we have in the past, keep on drawing the attention of the Chinese government to have better cooperative arrangements to manage the rivers which are of inter-state concern," he said.

Plans by China to build three dams in Tibet have rung alarm bells in India.