Bangladesh hopeful of Teesta water agreement

New Delhi: Buoyed by the Indian Parliament’s nod to the implementation of the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement (LBA), an accord pending for more than four decades, Bangladesh has expressed the hope the two neighbours will soon implement a pact on sharing the Teesta river’s waters.

Given the improvement in ties, energy, pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding and food processing were areas India and Bangladesh could look at to forge closer links, said Syed Mozzaem Ali, Bangladeshi high commissioner to India, who took up his post in December. He also spoke of plans to build a deep sea port in Bangladesh to serve the entire region.

Both the LBA and a pact to share the waters of the Teesta were signed in 2011, during the visit of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Dhaka. But both have faced objections from some Indian states. In the case of the LBA, the problems were sorted out and a legislation for implementation of the pact cleared by both houses of parliament earlier this month.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Ali said some Indian states like West Bengal had objections to the implementation of the Teesta pact.

“We would surely emphasise the greater need for collaboration between our two countries and we should conclude the Teesta agreement as finalised to be concluded as soon as possible,” Ali said adding there were no new negotiations underway on the Teesta pact.

“Obviously we will be very happy if during Prime Minister Modi’s visit if we can resolve this longstanding (Teesta) issue,” he said. Modi is expected to visit Bangladesh 6-8 June.

On the LBA, Ali said the go-ahead by India’s Parliament to implement the pact, signed by then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then Bangladesh President Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in 1974, had brought the neighbours to the “threshold” of a new era in bilateral ties.

Last year, the neighbours had been able to resolve their maritime boundary dispute with the help of a United Nations (UN) tribunal.

“So we are indeed very happy that both the maritime and land boundaries between our two countries have been finally settled. The settlement of the border is of immense importance because good borders make good neighbours. If you look at history disputed borders have always given rise to tension and occasional outbursts,” Ali said.

“Prime Minister Modi wanted to visit Bangladesh with a solid achievement in his hand. He has achieved major progress on the LBA so we will be looking forward to a visit to our country by the prime minister,” he said. He said he hoped the physical handover of the territories in adverse possession and the enclaves as well as the demarcation of the boundary will take place in six months.

On future ties, Ali said he hoped to see relations to a “new level when we have much less confusion and much less suspicion about each other.

“India is a fast growing economy, it should be in Bangladesh’s interest to integrate with the Indian economy as much as possible so that we can also take part in a high growth economy and success story,” he said.

On connectivity, which India sees as a crucial part of its ties with Bangladesh, Ali said cooperation was increasing. One of his own priorities was to establish rail connectivity between Bangladesh and India which could later be extended to Nepal, Bhutan and Northeast Asia.

“I do hope that Prime Minister Modi’s visit will pave the way for this kind of cooperation,” he said.

Given South Asia’s rapid growth, “Bangladesh would like to build a deep sea port. And we would like a consortium where we could get cooperation from other countries of the region who could jointly pool their resources and build a port for the entire region,” Ali said.

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