Indo-Bangla foreign secretary-level talks
�Wait and see� for Teesta again
Kumkum Chadha, New Delhi
At the conclusion of what were described as highly productive and fruitful talks between the Foreign Secretaries of Bangladesh and India, no headway was made on the crucial issue of the water sharing of the Teesta. Talking to the newsmen yesterday Bangladesh Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque said there was a broad agreement on most issues. He said the issue of sharing of the Teesta waters, border killings and terrorism were discussed.
Asked if there has been any progress in efforts towards Teesta water-sharing deal, Haque merely said let us wait and see. One of the outcomes of the meeting, among other things, was slating March for the first meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Task Force on coastal shipping cooperation. The meeting is intended to take forward bilateral cooperation in the sector.
This was stated by visiting Bangladesh Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque a day after his talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar. Haque also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Special Secretary in Water Resources Ministry Amarjit Singh. Coastal shipping is a new area identified by the two countries during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Dhaka in June last year, Haque told reporters here and the forthcoming meeting of the Task Force would take forward bilateral cooperation in the area.
The Task Force would identify the Indian and Bangladeshi ports and the sea routes which are to be open for coastal shipping in ferrying goods and passenger services, he said.
The two countries have, some months ago, signed a separate MoUs here on coastal shipping comprising movement of cargo and cruise liner services.
Very edgy about elaborating or mentioning specifics, Haque preferred to keep to the macro. However on the sidelines, he did say that he found the Indian side very receptive to Bangladeshs needs and ever willing to address mutual issues. Haque said there has been very good progress in securing Indian assistance for development of Chittagong port. Haque said the two sides had had very fruitful discussions on various aspects of bilateral relations including terrorism, water resources management, trade, investment, power and energy, sub-regional cooperation, connectivity, regional and multilateral cooperation and people-to-people contact.
We went through the progress in implementation of the decisions taken during Prime Minister Modis visit and the progress has been very fast, Haque said.
Replying to a question on Teesta water-sharing deal, he said the Indian side has been very open to discussions on joint water resources management and both sides are working on a meeting of the ministerial-level Joint River Commission. The previous meeting of JRC was held more than five years ago. Questioned if India voiced concern over activities of ISIS terror group in Bangladesh, Haque said there was no expression of worry as such on this and we are very happy on counter-terrorism cooperation. In reply to another question on the issue, the Foreign Secretary said the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was committed to eradicating violence and religious extremism and Bangladesh and India are collaborating to ensure a peaceful country. Asked to specify the forms of such collaboration, he said it has taken all forms of cooperation. Answering a question, Haque said the issue of border killing was discussed by the two sides and added we are happy with the outcome. He declined to quote a figure on the number of Bangladeshis killed in firing by BSF along the border.
Haque said the issues of Bangladeshi-Bhutan-India-Nepal Corridor and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar connectivity came at the bilateral meeting and both sides expressed satisfaction the progress on the two fronts.
He said the third meeting on BCIM project will be held hopefully this year in India.
