Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expects India will take a magnanimous view of the Teesta water sharing issue.
On Sunday, she said solutions must be reached on important bilateral issues between India and Bangladesh without too much delay.
“We hope India will take a progressive view to solve the complexities involved in Teesta water sharing,” Hasina said after meeting Indian external affairs minister Salman Khurshid.
The Prime Minister said it was only to be expected that there would be problems between neighbouring countries. “They (the problems) will have to be addressed through discussions,” she said.
The neighbouring countries were expected to sign a deal on sharing the waters of Teesta during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 2011 Dhaka visit.
Faced with stiff opposition from the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Singh had to be back off from signing the agreement, whose draft was ready .
Banerjee says the Teesta water sharing agreement may adversely affect the interest of her state West Bengal but media reports suggests she has shelved a report by hydrologist Kalyan Rudra who had advocated maintaining the ‘normal flow of Teesta’ towards Bangladesh without much withdrawal in the upper reaches.
Analysts say Banerji is actually trying to use the Teesta issue to drive a hard bargain with Delhi to secure a special financial deal for her cash-strapped state.bdnews24.com
