Chief minister of India’s West Bengal state Mamata Banerjee has sent a letter to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi expressing her willingness to cooperate on signing a deal on Teesta water sharing with Bangladesh.
Mamata Banarjee, who earlier objected to such an agreement during the tenure of Congress-led government of Manmohan Singh, assured Dhaka of cooperation when she came to Bangladesh a week ago.
Referring to the letter, the online version of Kolkata-based Bengali daily Anandabazar Patrika reported that both Bangladesh and the West Bengal state have their own demands on Teesta waters and could be solved through discussion.
It is expected that Bangladesh and India may be able to sign agreements on Teesta water sharing, land boundary demarcation and exchange of enclaves during the planned visit of Indian premier minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh.
Modi, in a phone call earlier in February, assured Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina that he would come to Dhaka with a good news.
The Indian leader, in a letter sent through his foreign secretary earlier this week, expressed his interest in visiting Bangladesh.
Modi is learned to have willingness to sign the deals with Bangladesh, in presence of the West Bengal chief minister, who is the key stakeholder in cross-boundary deals given the border with Bangladesh.
Modi may follow the precedent set by former prime minister Deve Gowda who had the then West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu by his side, when the 30-year Ganges water-sharing treaty was signed in 1996.
The Teesta deal was scheduled to be signed in 2011 during the tenure of Congress-led UPA government when former prime minister Manmohan Singh came to Dhaka.
Mamata rejected to cooperate on the deal withdrawing herself at the last moment from the entourage of Manmohan Singh during the visit.
Dainik Ajkaal, another Kolkata-based Bengali daily, in an online version report, claimed that a 10-year interim deal would be signed between the two countries.
The quantum of waters to be shared between the sides is yet to be finalised, according to the report.
Source: Prothom Alo
