Foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali appears to have contradicted his ministerial colleague and top government officials by saying that, given the depth of relationship between Bangladesh and India, it does not matter if a certain issue is addressed or not. “The height the Bangladesh-India relationship has reached…it is now an overall concept. In this, it does not matter which one is done and which is not done,” he told a press conference, when asked about the importance the Teesta water-sharing agreement will get, when the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India discuss the issue related to the waters of common rivers.
“What you have to see is the main trajectory…Where is it going? I think… I don’t want to say whether one issue will be addressed or not,” he added.
Officials of the foreign and water resources ministries have repeatedly said that the Teesta water-sharing deal was a top priority for Bangladesh and was to be treated differently from an overall discussion on the water sharing of common rivers.
They said the issue would be discussed during the meeting between PMs Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi on April 8.
On March 21, state minister for water resources Nazrul Islam told The Independent in an exclusive interview, “It’s a hot issue with India. Given the depth of the Bangladesh-India relationship, it would look odd if the agreement is not signed. The Prime Minister will discuss the issue with her Indian counterpart.”
“The present Indian prime minister Modi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh said that the agreement should be signed,” he added.
On February 23, foreign secretary Shahidul Haque told reporters after a meeting with the Indian foreign secretary in Dhaka that everything, including the Teesta and border killings, would be on the agenda of the talks between the two Prime Ministers.
He also hoped that the Teesta water-sharing agreement would be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India.
When asked if the non-inclusion of any high-ranking official of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in the Prime Minister’s delegation meant that Dhaka was no longer considering border killings by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) to be a priority issue, the foreign minister said, “The meeting (between the BGB and the BSF) took place recently. Both sides are seriously trying to stop this. There is nothing new to say on this.”
Asked if any defence cooperation agreement will be signed, he said, “You’ll see when it takes place.”
Asked if there will be agreement or memorandums of understanding, minister Ali again avoided a direct reply, saying, “These are MoUs. But it is difficult to say if any of them will become
agreements. You will see. Everything will be made public.”
The foreign minister said a total of 33 agreements and deals were expected to be signed after the bilateral talks between the two Prime Ministers.
He, however, would not say how many of them would be agreements and MoUs.
The bilateral instruments are mainly related to defence cooperation, the third Indian line of credit (LoC), power and energy, establishment of information and broadcasting, civil nuclear cooperation, ICT, satellite and space research, geology, border haats and the establishment of community clinics, he added.
About issues to be discussed by Hasina and Modi, Ali said both leaders would discuss all aspects of bilateral relations.
The issues related to the water sharing of common rivers, basin-wise water resource management, Ganges barrage, defence cooperation, connectivity, protection of border, bilateral trade expansion, power and energy, sub-regional cooperation, and drug and human trafficking would get prominence, he said. The two Prime Ministers would inaugurate the movement of good trains on the Birol-Radhikapur route, a passenger bus service, and train services on the Khulna-Kolkata route and the supply of an additional 60 MW of electricity from Tripura, said the minister. Hasina and Modi will also jointly unveil the cover of the Hindi version of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s unfinished memoirs, he said. Foreign minister Ali said Prime Minister Hasina will start the process of honouring fallen Indian soldiers during the War of Independence by honouring seven soldiers during her visit. A joint statement will be issued after the meeting between the two heads of government.