Sino-Indian expedition to find sources of two big rivers

The scientists will set off in April 2007 to the remote Mount Kailash peak in Tibet, where the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers are believed to originate.

"The experts will spend one month in Tibet to study the glaciers which feed the two rivers and trace their exact source," said HPS Ahluwalia, president of the Indian Mountaineering Federation (IMF).

The federation and the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Sciences will sign a memorandum of understanding on the agreement in New Delhi Thursday.

The geologists and mountaineers will also attempt to find out the impact of global warming on the glaciers.

"An expedition like this has not been done for 100 years," Ahluwalia said. "The region is the biggest reservoir of fresh water on earth."

In October, the Indian media reported that China was planning to dam the Brahmaputra -- called Yarlung Zangbo in China -- to divert water to its Yellow River. Beijing denied the reports.

The 3,000 kilometre (1,800 mile) Brahmaputra is one of Asia's longest rivers that traverses first Tibet, then India and Bangladesh before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

The Sutlej -- about 1,450 kilometre-long -- originates in Tibet, and flows through India to Pakistan.

Mount Kailash, a remote peak in Tibet thought to be the source of the rivers, is considered sacred by millions of Hindus and Buddhists.