India, China to cooperate over Himalayan glaciers: Jairam

India and China are in talks to monitor the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, a border region crucial to both countries' water supplies, Minister for Environment Jairam Ramesh has said.

"We are talking to the Chinese about monitoring the Himalayan glaciers," Ramesh told the Financial Times.

However, he said India would not allow Chinese scientists "to climb all over India's glaciers" but wanted a collaborative research programme.

He said, as part of a scientific investigation into the health of what are called the 'Water Towers of Asia', academic research bodies on both sides of the mountain range would share information.

He said New Delhi is open to dialogue on water resources with Beijing, adding the two countries shared the concerns. Ramesh is visiting China this month to strike a deal with Beijing ahead of the Copenhagen talks on climate change in December.

He said India and China could be a "countervailing power" in resisting legally binding caps on greenhouse emissions that threaten to slow the progress of the two fastest growing economies.

The Himalayan region and the Tibet plateau are strategically sensitive for the two countries.

Seven of the world's greatest rivers, including the Ganges and the Yangtze, are fed by glaciers, and supply water to about 40 per cent of the world's population.