• Issue 2

Environmental concerns will dominate diplomatic relations between China and India in the future, according to a leading UK think tank.

A report from Chatham House, a London political institute, said that water resources are often a particularly contentious issue between the two countries.

"Both have similar environmental concerns and will be hard hit by the effects of global warming, which are already becoming apparent in the Himalayas," it said.

The Chatham House team based its forecast on reports that glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau - which feed seven major Asian rivers, including the Yangtze and Brahmaputra - are receding by up to 15 metres per year. Continued melting could cause devastating seasonal floods between periods of drought.

Historically, the two states' relationship has been dominated, in turn, by religion, politics and now economics.

"In the future, environmental issues may well become the main focus," said Gareth Price, head of Chatham House's Asia Programme and the report's lead author.

Already Delhi has become concerned about China's diversion of rivers on the plateau to augment its northern regions water supplies.  Equally importantly, India claims that China has been slow to share information about the rivers' conditions in the run-up to landslides.

But the two countries have taken measures to build trust over environmental issues. In 2006, India and China announced plans to send a joint expedition to the Himalayas to monitor the effects of climate change on glaciers. The findings of the expedition will help both countries manage water resources more wisely.

Industrial pollution, too, is an issue.  Eight of the 10 most polluted cities in the world are located in China, making water in many regions unsafe to drink - but Beijing is increasingly taking steps to clean up its act ahead of next year's Olympic Games.

India's two mega cities, Delhi and Calcutta, rank among the world's worst for urban air quality and contribute to acid rain that can spoil groundwater reserves.

Both countries must find ways to balance environmental clean-up with economic growth.

"These shared concerns may lead to collaboration over new ways of tackling environmental issues," said Price.