(TibetanReview.net, Jan21’24) – Wondering why natural disasters had seen a marked increase especially in specific areas of the Indian Himalayas in recent years, India’s defence Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, has wondered Jan 18 whether this was a result of the manipulation of the weather and weather events from across a hostile occupied-Tibet-border without naming China.
Climate change was not just a phenomenon related to weather but it was also linked with national security, wionews.com Jan 20 cited the minister as saying. He has suggested the possibility that China might be “weaponising” weather for strategic gain.
Singh was speaking at an event in Uttarakhand, a state that shares border with Chinese-occupied Tibet. The event marked the inauguration of 35 infrastructure projects of India’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
The minister has said, “Certain border states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Union Territories like Ladakh have noticed an increase in the number of natural disasters in recent years. The Himalayas extend to other states as well, but such incidents are confined to certain states only, and we cannot ignore that.”
Singh has acknowledged that many experts believe these natural disasters to be an outcome of climate change. However, he has added, “Climate change in the country is not just a weather-related phenomenon; the matter is related to national security. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has taken it very seriously and will seek help from friendly countries to study and rule out any involvement of any enemy country on this issue.”
The report cited The Hindu newspaper as saying China had a “Beijing Weather Modification Office (BWMO)” that had 37,000 employees. It said potential use of weather as weapon could include triggering flash floods via cloud seeding with an aim to depopulate a particular region across border.
One of China’s main targets is seen as Arunachal Pradesh, India’s northeastern border state claim by China on the basis of its armed invasion and illegal annexation of Tibet. The mighty Yarlung Tsangpo river, which traverse much of southern Tibet, enters India where it is known as the Brahmaputra, through Arunachal Pradesh and then Assam before entering Bangladesh, causing devastating floods.
China has built a number of hydroelectric power dams on this river in Tibet, enabling it to regulate the volume of its flow.
India’s National Security Council Secretariat is investigating the issue of weather weaponisation and its “potential exploitation by inimical forces”, the report cited media reports as saying.