Prelims 2026 · Geography · Question 25
Identify the river of the Indian sub-continent on the basis of the following information:
- It has an antecedent drainage system.
- It flows through three countries.
- It originates in the Tibetan Plateau and is an important river for irrigation.
- It does not form distributaries.
Select the answer from the following:
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.