PM blames Mamata as Teesta deal goes unsigned

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said Teesta water sharing treaty between Bangladesh and India could not be signed due to an objection raised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banarjee. “The framework agreement on sharing the water of Teesta River had been finalised, and the deal couldn’t be inked due to an objection raised by Mamata Banarjee,” she said in her introductory speech at a meeting with high officials of Water Resources Ministry at the Bangladesh Secretariat. But, Hasina said, the Indian central government was very much cordial to sign the treaty. This is the first time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came up with the allegation against the West Bengal Chief Minister on Teesta water sharing issue. The treaty was supposed to be inked during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011, but it did not happen as the chief minister of India’s West Bengal state refused to come to Dhaka with Manmohan Singh raising her objection to the treaty at the last minute of that tour. Sheikh Hasina said the government is continuing its efforts to sign the Teesta Water Sharing Treaty with India, and hoped that it be inked soon. Hasina said the negotiations on the issue with India are going on to have Bangladesh’s due share of the Teesta water, according to UNB.