BD wants to resolve Teesta issues following int'l rules: Prof Yunus

He describes border killings by BSF as 'callousness'

FE Team | Published: September 07, 2024 00:08:50

Muhammad Yunus

Bangladesh's interim government will 'work with' India in order to resolve the issues over the long-pending Teesta water-sharing treaty, says Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, report agencies.
The issue has been left hanging for an extended period, which is not good for either country, he told Indian news organisation PTI in an interview.
Yunus spoke with PTI from his official residence in Dhaka. Many Indian outlets published reports based on the interview on Friday.
In the interview Yunus also condemned border killings of Bangladeshis by India's Border Security Force, describing it as callousness and insisting they must stop because killing is no solution.
Speaking about the contentious issue of border killings, Yunus condemned it and said killing is not a solution to dealing with anything.
"Killing someone is not a solution, as there are legal ways to deal with this. There has to be a ground mechanism and legal procedure to handle it. This is a one-sided thing. No one is crossing the border to capture your country; those who are being killed by shooting are just couriers. This is callousness. This has to stop," he said.
The chief advisor urged the Teesta issue to be resolved according to international norms.
"By sitting over this issue [water sharing], it is not serving any purpose. If I know how much water I will get, even if I am not happy and sign it, it would be better. This issue has to be resolved," he said.
Asked whether the interim government would push India on the issue, he said:
"Push is a big word; I am not saying it. We will pursue it. But we have to sit together and resolve it," he told PTI.
The much-anticipated agreement on the Teesta water was supposed to happen during the visit of then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Dhaka in September 2011. In the lead-up to that visit, the water resource ministers of both countries had agreed on a sharing deal.
However, the treaty was stalled due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. This deadlock has not been resolved even after 13 years.
Although there were hopes for the Teesta agreement after Narendra Modi's BJP government came to power, Mamata's stance did not change.
This year, following a trip to India by then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the premiers of the two countries made a statement saying that India had decided to begin technical discussions of renewing the 1996 Ganges water-sharing treaty.
The statement added that a technical team from India would also be dispatched to Bangladesh to discuss the conservation and management of the Teesta River.
"This is not a new issue but a very old issue. We have spoken on this issue on several occasions. The discussions began during the period of Pakistan's rule. While we all wanted this treaty to be finalised, even the Indian government was ready for it. However, the state government of West Bengal was not ready for it. We need to resolve it," Yunus told PTI.