Teesta still in limbo

Visit of Chief Minister of Paschimbanga Mamata Benerjee along with ministers, MPs, business magnates and cultural activists has created a good impact on relations between Bangladesh and the Indian state. Possibly this is the third visit by a Chief Minister of West Bengal after Jyoti Basu, the last being in 1999. The then Prime Minister of Bangladesh declared to preserve the ancestral home of Jyoti Basu at Nagapada in Sonargaon upazila of Narayanganj district as a library-cum-tourist complex. Ancestral home of Jyoti Basu is a two-storied structure.
The CPM government had contributed a lot in providing shelter and food to refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan during the war of liberation in 1971. During its rule in West Bengal, a 30-year treaty was signed to share waters of the Ganges in 1996 when the Awami League was in power. The Indian federal government needs concurrence of  sister-states if any project affects interests of state governments.
The visit of Mamata Banerjee to Dhaka raised eye-brows in Bangladesh because the Chief Minister had refused to join the delegation that was led by the then Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in 2011 during his visit to Bangladesh. It was widely reported at that time in Bangladesh and India as well that a planned Teesta water-sharing agreement between Bangladesh and India was torpedoed by Mamata who refused to accept reportedly a certain clause of the agreement.  
The visit by the Chief Minister of Paschimbanga to Bangladesh took place against the backdrop of non-implementation of 'agreed' Teesta water-sharing treaty  and demarcation of land boundary agreement between Bangladesh and India because of opposition by Mamata. The Teesta is a common river between Bangladesh and India. Being a lower riparian, denial of waters to the country from a common river is illegal in the eyes of relevant international laws.
Incidentally, India has constantly been depriving Bangladesh of its due share of waters from common rivers. The 30-year long treaty of sharing waters of the Ganges---an international river-- itself is faulty because it lacks a guarantee clause. During lean period, Bangladesh is deprived of due share of waters from the Ganges.
 The announcement by the Chief Minister of Paschimbanga at the gathering of cultural activists of Bangladesh to have faith on her ability to settle the dispute over sharing of Teesta waters has triggered hopes. Her assurance was repeated during her talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Mamata Banerjee assured the Prime Minister of resolving all pending issues with Bangladesh. The ball is now in the court of the BJP government in Delhi to resolve all issues to improve relations with Bangladesh. Still doubts prevail over which way the BJP government would move to resolve all pending issues with Bangladesh. During the Congress-led government in India, the BJP objected to approval of land boundary agreement for ratification. At that time, present Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj was the opposition leader of the BJP in the Indian Lok Sabha.
The composition of the delegation that the Chief Minister led speaks of her determination to build a cultural bridge between Bangladesh and Paschimbanga, apart from  trade relations. What was significant is that Mamata had emphasised on developing connectivity between Bangladesh and her state in the field of tourism and trade. Paschimbanga needs to improve Bengali culture in hotels and restaurants as well. One could hardly find any restaurant and hotel where they speak pure Bangla during a visit to Kolkata.
For this, the Paschimbanga government needs to develop infrastructures in the border areas, apart from building strong road communication. It is really disturbing to see road communication from Benapole border to  Kolkata reminding one of the medieval age, to say the least. To some extent, road communication has improved near Salt Lake area-- a new residential area of Kolkata. Condition of Subash Bose international airport of Kolkata is deplorable indeed.
However, regular interaction with members of the business community of Bangladesh would a play significant role in improving trade relations with  Paschimbanga if tariffs on Bangladeshi products are removed on a reciprocal basis, apart from improving infrastructures. The Chief Minister's desire to work together to make two countries destination for business would be fulfilled only if infrastructures are improved and her government helps make entry of more products duty-free in Indian market from Bangladesh.
The visit of Mamata may improve relations in cultural arena in particular and trade as well, but sharing of waters of the Teesta river cannot be expected so soon because she did not commit anything positively. She thinks certain technical problems need to be resolved first to make the Teesta water-sharing treaty see the light of the day.
The writer is a retired diplomat from Bangladesh
amjad.21@gmail.com