While the government is looking to build profitable hydro projects in Ladakh, a few have opposed it for no good reason. Similarly, the agenda behind Sonam Wangchuk’s protest is that all infrastructure should be blocked in Ladakh and that China should be given an upper hand in this region.
The entire thing does not even seem to masquerade under the pretext of any environmental activism he presents. In the past few years, India has announced a series of massive development projects in Ladakh, from hydroelectric power plants to green hydrogen projects.
These projects will also be crucial for the energy security of India and in countering China’s aggressive infrastructure upgradation in the neighbourhood. However, Wangchuk’s protest falls precisely into a suspicious narrative that hawks anti-development discourse furthers foreign interests, particularly those of China.
About eight hydropower projects on the Indus River in Ladakh: In June 2021, the Indian government gave a clear go-ahead to eight hydropower projects worth about ₹3,500 crore. But the Ladakh region is also hosting the world’s second-biggest solar power plant and India’s first geothermal project. These ecotourism enterprises will try to cash in on the climatic phenomenon here for green energy.
Agenda behind Sonam Wangchuk’s protest despite back-to-back projects in the region is beyond justification
Yet, Sonam Wangchuck wants these projects to be stopped immediately. Why anyone would resist anything green energy in such a place that needs it the most? As is the case with Sonam Wangchuk, the whole intention of his protest goes toward stopping all infrastructure development work in Ladakh and giving an edge to China, which for long has been eyeing control over the place.
According to Wangchuk, these projects will ruin Ladakh’s local culture, especially the Pashmina wool business. This reasoning is not so sound, least of all given his earlier instances of advocacy for the use of solar energy here. Just a few years ago, he was found peddling solar power for Ladakh on YouTube. So what happened to his change of heart?
Could it be that Wangchuk’s protests are motivated by foreign interests? The only agenda behind Sonam Wangchuk’s protest is to halt all infrastructure projects in Ladakh and give an upper hand to China, under the guise of environmentalism, while quietly undermining India’s strategic interests in the region.
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Also, see: Russia Chooses India to Build Non-Nuclear Icebreakers Over China
