India, Bangladesh ink first water sharing pact in 25 years; Hasina flags Teesta agreement

Bangladesh prodded India to end the impasse over the proposed agreement for sharing of water of common river Teesta even as a meeting between the prime ministers of the two nations in New Delhi on Tuesday resulted in signing of seven pacts.

New Delhi, however, refrained from promising Dhaka a timeline for restarting the stalled negotiations for the deal on Teesta. The two sides, however, agreed to launch the negotiations for a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) this year itself.

The pacts inked after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina included one for sharing of water of another common river Kushiara. Though the two neighbouring nations share 54 common rivers, it was the second such deal for sharing of water of one of them and it came 25 years after the first one for the Ganges was signed in 1996.

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The MoUs inked after the Modi-Hasina meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi also included one inked between New Space India Limited, the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited (BSCL). The other pacts inked by the two sides are aimed at stepping up bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology, railways and judiciary.

“The two countries had resolved many outstanding issues in the spirit of friendship and cooperation and we expressed hope for all outstanding issues, including the signing of the Teesta Water Sharing Treaty at an early date," Hasina said as she and Modi addressed media-persons after the meeting.

Modi, however, avoided referring to or making a commitment for early resumption of the negotiation for the proposed deal on Teesta.

He, however, noted that 54 trans-boundary rivers shared by India and Bangladesh were linked to the livelihood of the people of the two countries for centuries and folk tales about the rivers, folk songs had also been part of the shared cultural heritage of the two neighbouring nations. He said that the agreement to share water of Kushiara would benefit people of southern Assam in India and Sylhet region in Bangladesh.

Teesta is a river which originates in Sikkim and flows through West Bengal in India before entering Bangladesh. Though New Delhi and Dhaka had been close to signing an agreement for sharing of water of the river in 2011, it had been stalled due to objection from the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee, who had argued that such a pact would result in water scarcity in the northern region of the state and hit the farmers hard. It turned into an irritant in New Delhi’s relations with Dhaka over the past 11 years.

Bangladesh’s opposition parties also turned impasse over negotiation for the deal into a political weapon to criticize Hasina and her ruling Awami League.

Hasina had written to Banerjee a few weeks back expressing her desire to meet West Bengal Chief Minister during her visit to New Delhi.

Banerjee, however, stayed in Kolkata, even as Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Monday for her four-day visit to India. “Mamata is just like my sister. Though I thought we would meet in New Delhi, it didn’t happen for some reason. But we can meet anytime,” Bangladesh Prime Minister told journalists, adding that her relations with West Bengal Chief Minister go beyond politics.

Modi said that he and Hasina also discussed ways to enhance cooperation in flood mitigation.