Jannatul Fardous
The sharing of water from the Teesta River, a long-pending issue, has come to the fore again as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will visit India on June 21-22 in her first bilateral visit after coming to power for the fourth successive term.
“I will not argue about the existence of water in the Teesta. Speaking at a roundtable on Friday, Md Shahriar Alam, the MP representing Rajshahi-6, stated, “I can drive my car in the middle of the Padma for six months of the year, and half of the population of my constituency lives on the bank of the Padma.”
“This is the second document in 53 rivers (between India and Bangladesh) which was well-argued, well-negotiated, and finalized at the secretary level,” the former state minister for foreign affairs further stated, stressing that any deviation would indicate a breach of the primary agreement between the two nations.
“If the Teesta problem is not handled, Bangladesh’s food supply may alter. According to him, using groundwater for irrigation is not environmentally sustainable.
Speaking at a roundtable on Bangladesh-India ties, the member of parliament was sponsored by the Bangla daily Bhorer Kagoj. The discussion was moderated by editor Shyamal Dutta, and those in attendance included Bangladesh President Nurul Islam Hasib, international relations professors Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed and Shahab Enam Khan, former ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmed, former foreign secretary Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, and the Diplomatic Correspondents Association.
Even before the Indian legislative election, there had been much talk about the prime minister’s bilateral visit scheduled for June 21–22. But her presence at the June 9 swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also raised rumors that the visit would be canceled.
Expectations, further enhancement of relations
“It will be a short visit on June 21-22, since the Awami League’s 75th founding anniversary will be celebrated on June 23,” Shahriar said, adding that the two governments had come to power with renewed mandate and there was continuity, which was good news for the people of two countries.
Aspirations were sky high, he said, adding: “Our prime minister has always believed in realizing legitimate demands while maintaining very good relations.”
Shahriar said: “Water is a sensitive issue, but if we cannot solve the problem, the food basket of Bangladesh will change.”
Bangladesh and India were scheduled to sign a Teesta water-sharing agreement on September 6, 2011 in Dhaka during the visit of then-prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh. It was dropped at the last moment due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
No deal means Bangladesh faces an acute shortage of water in the dry season and flooding on rainy days.
Anticipate a stocktaking visit that will set the tone for the ensuing five years. India is interested in the $1 billion Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project, according to former ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmed. Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, a former foreign secretary, has stressed the importance of the two countries’ geopolitical collaboration.
Mobin said the Bihar government was opposing the Ganga agreement. “Hopefully there will be a change in that as the Bihar government is in alliance with Narendra Modi’s party.”
He also noted that border killings were continuing, which needed to be stopped.
Prof Imtiaz Ahmed said: “The water in the Teesta has decreased. Water management needs to be done jointly. China wants to work on the Teesta. We have to see whether the issue will have any impact on the development of India-Bangladesh relations.”
He, however, said: “We have to transform the geopolitical conflicts into geopolitical cooperation.”
“Both India and China work closely in BRICS. They were together on the question of the Russia-Ukraine war. This year trade with China has surpassed that with the US. India and China were on the same page on Myanmar issues,” he said.
“It is going to be a multi-polar world, and India is one of the ‘polar’ being the third largest economy in the world surpassing France and the UK. India wants to be a member of the UN Security Council.”
Prof Shahab Enam Khan put forward a new idea of health sector cooperation along with other issues.
“Our health sector is a place of great weakness. Many patients go to India for treatment. In this, the wealthy class gets benefits, but most low-income people are not able to get medical services. We should enhance the health sector cooperation so that Indian doctors can give the service in Bangladesh, and this needs to be decentralized, not concentrated in big hospitals in Dhaka.”
