Prelims 2026 · Geography · Question 25
Identify the river of the Indian sub-continent on the basis of the following information:<br/><br/>1. It has an antecedent drainage system.<br/>2. It flows through three countries.<br/>3. It originates in the Tibetan Plateau and is an important river for irrigation.<br/>4. It does not form distributaries.<br/><br/>Select the answer from the following:<br/>
Answer
Sutlej
The river is the Sutlej. It rises in Tibet, flows through China, India and Pakistan, and is a major irrigation river in the Indus basin. The decisive clue is statement 4: unlike the Indus, which forms a delta, the Sutlej is a tributary river and is not identified by distributary formation. Standard Indian geography also treats the Sutlej as an antecedent Himalayan river.