PM’S UPCOMING INDIA VISIT

Teesta top priority for Bangladesh

Indian foreign secretary arrives today

Despite the uncertainty with regard to the signing of Teesta water sharing agreement, it is still a top priority issue for Bangladesh when it comes to bilateral relations between Dhaka and New Delhi, government officials have told The Independent.

“Given the tussle between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, it is not impossible, but it is improbable,” said a senior official concerned when asked if there was any possibility of a breakthrough regarding Teesta during the upcoming proposed visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India.
“But, it is still a top priority and we want to get it signed as soon as possible,” he said. 
And, the sources said that the Bangladesh side is all but certain to convey this message to the Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who will arrive in the capital today on a two-day visit, which is seen as part of the preparations of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s proposed visit to India most likely in the first half of April.

An interim agreement on Teesta water sharing was set to be signed on September 6, 2011 during former Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka. But, it could not be signed due to the last minute objection raised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
India is interested in signing a framework agreement with Bangladesh to elevate the defence and security cooperation to a higher level, said the sources. 
In December last, Manohar Parrikar visited Bangladesh as the first ever Indian Defence Minister and talked to political and military leadership in this regard, they said. 
The sources said that a memorandum of understanding with regard to the framework agreement is likely to be inked during the visit and preparations are on to sign a loan agreement to purchase arms worth about Tk 4,000 crores from India.
While in Bangladesh, the Indian top diplomat will meet Prime Minister Hasina today and hold bilateral talk with his Bangladeshi counterpart Shahidul Haque.
“We will discuss all the aspects of the bilateral relations between the two neighbours,” Foreign Secretary Haque told The Independent about the visit. Preliminary discussions will be held regarding the prime minister’s proposed visit to India and possible topics of discussions with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, he said.
According to the sources, the Indian foreign secretary is scheduled to arrive at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at noon from Beijing. Around 5pm, he will hold meeting with Prime Minister Hasina at Ganabhaban, the official residence of the premier. Jaishankar will hold bilateral meeting with Foreign Secretary Haque later in the evening and will leave for New Delhi tomorrow morning.  
According to a diplomatic source, Jaishankar will hold preliminary talks about the possible timetable for the prime minister’s Delhi visit and the topics of discussions during the visit. But, he said that it would take some more time to finalise the date of the prime minister’s visit. It has been learnt from the sources, Dhaka and New Delhi are working on a date in the first half of April.
Earlier, the visit was deferred twice.  Bangladesh postponed the visit in December showing schedule problem 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 Teesta, they added.  Let alone Teesta, West Bengal Chief Minister is talking about moving away from the discussions regarding the Ganges Barrage because she fears that if the barrage is constructed some areas of her state will be vulnerable to erosion, said the sources. 
Out of the fear, she has formally withdrawn the representative for his state from a joint technical committee constituted in this regard, they added. 
The sources said that like the Land Boundary Agreement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about signing Teesta deal taking all stakeholders on board. When he came to Dhaka in June, 2015, he sought more time. 
Naturally, as an issue of priority that has been unresolved for a long time, Bangladesh will logically raise the issue, they said. 
Besides, Bangladesh wants to start the construction of the Ganges Barrage with India on broad and a joint technical committee has been constituted, said the sources.  Bangladesh will want India to make a clear announcement in this regard during the visit, they said.
It has been learnt that as part of the preparations of the visit, an inter-ministerial secretary-level meet was held on January 3 with 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.

 

PMS UPCOMING INDIA VISIT

Teesta top priority for Bangladesh

Indian foreign secretary arrives today

Despite the uncertainty with regard to the signing of Teesta water sharing agreement, it is still a top priority issue for Bangladesh when it comes to bilateral relations between Dhaka and New Delhi, government officials have told The Independent. Given the tussle between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, it is not impossible, but it is improbable, said a senior official concerned when asked if there was any possibility of a breakthrough regarding Teesta during the upcoming proposed visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India. But, it is still a top priority and we want to get it signed as soon as possible, he said. And, the sources said that the Bangladesh side is all but certain to convey this message to the IndianForeign Secretary S Jaishankar, who will arrive in the capital today on a two-day visit, which is seen as part of the preparations of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas proposed visit to India most likely in the first half of April. An interim agreement on Teesta water sharing was set to be signed on September 6, 2011 during former Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singhs visit to Dhaka. But, it could not be signed due to the last minute objection raised by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. India is interested in signing a framework agreement with Bangladesh to elevate the defence and security cooperation to a higher level, said the sources. In December last, Manohar Parrikar visited Bangladesh as the first ever Indian Defence Minister and talked to political and military leadership in this regard, they said. The sources said that a memorandum of understanding with regard to the framework agreement is likely to be inked during the visit and preparations are on to sign a loan agreement to purchase arms worth about Tk 4,000 crores from India. While in Bangladesh, the Indian top diplomat will meet Prime Minister Hasina today and hold bilateral talk with his Bangladeshi counterpart Shahidul Haque. We will discuss all the aspects of the bilateral relations between the two neighbours, Foreign Secretary Haque told The Independent about the visit. Preliminary discussions will be held regarding the prime ministers proposed visit to India and possible topics of discussions with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, he said. According to the sources, the Indian foreign secretary is scheduled to arrive at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at noon from Beijing. Around 5pm, he will hold meeting with Prime Minister Hasina at Ganabhaban, the official residence of the premier. Jaishankar will hold bilateral meeting with Foreign Secretary Haque later in the evening and will leave for New Delhi tomorrow morning. According to a diplomatic source, Jaishankar will hold preliminary talks about the possible timetable for the prime ministers Delhi visit and the topics of discussions during the visit. But, he said that it would take some more time to finalise the date of the prime ministers visit. It has been learnt from the sources, Dhaka and New Delhi are working on a date in the first half of April. Earlier, the visit was deferred twice. Bangladesh postponed the visit in December showing schedule problem 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 Teesta, they added. Let alone Teesta, West Bengal Chief Minister is talking about moving away from the discussions regarding the Ganges Barrage because she fears that if the barrage is constructed some areas of her state will be vulnerable to erosion, said the sources. Out of the fear, she has formally withdrawn the representative for his state from a joint technical committee constituted in this regard, they added. The sources said that like the Land Boundary Agreement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about signing Teesta deal taking all stakeholders on board. When he came to Dhaka in June, 2015, he sought more time. Naturally, as an issue of priority that has been unresolved for a long time, Bangladesh will logically raise the issue, they said. Besides, Bangladesh wants to start the construction of the Ganges Barrage with India on broad and a joint technical committee has been constituted, said the sources. Bangladesh will want India to make a clear announcement in this regard during the visit, they said. It has been learnt that as part of the preparations of the visit, an inter-ministerial secretary-level meet was held on January 3 with 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.