All technicalities of Teesta deal were settled: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight said all technicalities of an agreement on Teest river water-sharing with Bangladesh were settled but West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's disagreement with it led to the cancellation of its signing.

Describing his maiden bilateral visit to Bangladesh as "very safisfying", he said "it would have been better had the Teesta deal been signed".

Asked if Mamata's objections to the quantum of Teesta water to be shared with Bangladesh was the hurdle to its signing, Singh said she was consulted more than a month ago and he had sent National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to apprise her about it.
Then when the Teesta treaty issue had come up before the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs a few days before the Prime Minister's trip to Dhaka, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi raised objections to it, Singh said adding "then, I again sent Shivshankar Menon to talk to her.

"I was told all the technicalities were settled but "in the meantime something obviously happened and Mamataji disagreed with it", the Prime Minister said.

Replying to a question if Mamata was responsible for India's diplomatic embarassment in Bangladesh over Teesta, Singh said "Mamataji is one of our key political leaders and I don't want to comment on her".

He said although signing a treaty with another country is in the Centre's domain, "we decided to take along the concerned state governments".