PM’s India visit back on track

Following a couple of hiccups, the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India appears to be back on track. Dhaka and New Delhi are trying to make the visit happen at the beginning of April, diplomatic sources told The Independent, adding that Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar will arrive in the capital on February 23 as part of the preparations for the visit. According to sources, Jaishankar will come to Dhaka on his way to Delhi from Beijing. Earlier, the proposed visit was postponed twice – in December and February. Bangladesh postponed the visit in December showing problem in schedule, while India made the visit delayed in February showing their prime minister’s busyness with elections to legislative assemblies of five states, said the sources. Although issues related to schedule and state elections were shown as reasons behind the deferral of the visit, the Teesta water sharing agreement worked as a catalyst behind the postponement of the visit twice, they said. The Bangladesh side did not set Teesta issue as a precondition of the prime minister’s visit, but Dhaka will highlight significantly the issue of water sharing of the common rivers including the Teesta, they added.
The sources emphasised that though both the countries are taking preparations for the visit, Teesta water sharing agreement is still uncertain as a result of tussle between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
It has been learnt that as part of the preparations of the visit, a meeting was held on January 3 with Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque in the chair. Based on the opinions of the representatives from different ministries, divisions and departments, nearly 20 agreements, memorandums of understanding and letters of consent were finalised for signing.
Meanwhile, the sources said that Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Haque at his office and discussed the Prime Minister’s visit and Indian Foreign Secretary’s visit to Dhaka.      
When approached by reporters after the meeting, the Indian envoy said that they have discussed a lot of things including ongoing cooperation in different sectors including energy and connectivity.
Asked about the date of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India, Shringla said that work is on in this regard.
Asked about the upcoming visit of the Indian foreign secretary, Shringla avoided a direct answer, saying, “Visits among two friendly countries take place regularly. We are only two hours away. We can go to one country to another in a short notice. Considering that there may be many visits including the one by our foreign secretary.”
The envoy also said that all the six railway crossings between Bangladesh and India will be operational by 2018.
He said that of the six crossings, work of four has already been finished. Asked about progress on Ganges Barrage project, Shringla said that a joint technical working group has been set up that will review the impact of the barrage on both the countries.
There is progress in this regard, he said.
To a question regarding the water sharing of Teesta and the Ganges barrage, the envoy said that the West Bengal principal secretary and water resources secretary were in the joint technical working group.
“We want to work with Bangladesh along with our stakeholders on all these important issues,” he said.

PMs India visit back on track

Following a couple of hiccups, the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India appears to be back on track. Dhaka and New Delhi are trying to make the visit happen at the beginning of April, diplomatic sources told The Independent, adding that Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar will arrive in the capital on February 23 as part of the preparations for the visit. According to sources, Jaishankar will come to Dhaka on his way to Delhi from Beijing. Earlier, the proposed visit was postponed twice in December and February. Bangladesh postponed the visit in December showing problem in schedule, while India made the visit delayed in February showing their prime ministers busyness with elections to legislative assemblies of five states, said the sources. Although issues related to schedule and state elections were shown as reasons behind the deferral of the visit, the Teesta water sharing agreement worked as a catalyst behind the postponement of the visit twice, they said. The Bangladesh side did not set Teesta issue as a precondition of the prime ministers visit, but Dhaka will highlight significantly the issue of water sharing of the common rivers including the Teesta, they added. The sources emphasised that though both the countries are taking preparations for the visit, Teesta water sharing agreement is still uncertain as a result of tussle between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It has been learnt that as part of the preparations of the visit, a meeting was held on January 3 with Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque in the chair. Based on the opinions of the representatives from different ministries, divisions and departments, nearly 20 agreements, memorandums of understanding and letters of consent were finalised for signing. Meanwhile, the sources said that Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Haque at his office and discussed the Prime Ministers visit and Indian Foreign Secretarys visit to Dhaka. When approached by reporters after the meeting, the Indian envoy said that they have discussed a lot of things including ongoing cooperation in different sectors including energy and connectivity. Asked about the date of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas visit to India, Shringla said that work is on in this regard. Asked about the upcoming visit of the Indian foreign secretary, Shringla avoided a direct answer, saying, Visits among two friendly countries take place regularly. We are only two hours away. We can go to one country to another in a short notice. Considering that there may be many visits including the one by our foreign secretary. The envoy also said that all the six railway crossings between Bangladesh and India will be operational by 2018. He said that of the six crossings, work of four has already been finished. Asked about progress on Ganges Barrage project, Shringla said that a joint technical working group has been set up that will review the impact of the barrage on both the countries. There is progress in this regard, he said. To a question regarding the water sharing of Teesta and the Ganges barrage, the envoy said that the West Bengal principal secretary and water resources secretary were in the joint technical working group. We want to work with Bangladesh along with our stakeholders on all these important issues, he said.