Hasina, Modi to discuss Teesta issue as they meet in Delhi next week
FE REPORT | Monday, 4 September 2023
The Teesta water-sharing issue would come up for discussion during the upcoming bilateral meeting between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Hasina is scheduled to visit India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart to attend the G20 summit in India on September 9-10. Sheikh Hasina is expected to meet Mr Modi on the sidelines of the summit.
The Prime Minister will definitely raise the Teesta water-sharing issue during the meeting, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told journalists in response to a question, following a discussion on the UN 2023 water conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.
The water sharing of the Ganges River will also be raised, he said, pointing out that the existing Ganges water-sharing treaty is going to expire within a few years.
The secretary said water sharing of the international rivers is generally discussed in the joint river commission's meeting, but the Teesta issue has been discussed in the highest levels for a long.
It may be mentioned that both countries in 2010 agreed to sign the Teesta water-sharing deal during Indian Prime Minister Manomohan Sing's Dhaka visit. However, the initiative fell flat at the fag end of signing the deal amid opposition by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee.
Since then, Delhi has occasionally been assuring Dhaka to materialise their commitment to sign the deal.
Meanwhile, about the meeting on the UN water conference, the foreign secretary said they mainly discussed how to implement those commitments and how the development partners can help Bangladesh in this process.
He said most of the commitments will be fulfilled by 2030 and many countries of the world made their commitments separately. The UN 2023 Water Conference saw the adoption of the Water Action Agenda, representing voluntary commitments of nations and stakeholders to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets connected to water.
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