Draft paper on Teesta deal likely during Sheikh Hasina’s visit

NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh may go for a draft document or paper on sharing water from river Teesta during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit next month. The river, which originates in Sikkim, enters Bangladesh and joins the Brahmaputra before flowing into the Bay of Bengal.

Negotiations between the two countries on sharing its waters have remained inconclusive. Officials here hinted that a formal agreement may not be ready during Bangladesh PM Hasina’s April 7-10 visit, but a draft paper could be agreed upon when she meets her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on April 8.

This could lead to a formal agreement at a later stage, ahead of general elections in Bangladesh in January 2019. Hasina’s upcoming India visit has come under the spotlight with rising expectations that there will be forward movement on the pending Teesta water-sharing issue.

Fuelling hopes of a final agreement is the BJP’s landslide win in Uttar Pradesh, a verdict seen buttressing any bold move Modi may contemplate vis-à-vis India’s neighbours.

However, support of the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is key to the implementation of any water-sharing deal on river Teesta, which flows through the state.

Banerjee has been opposing this deal saying it will rob the state of its share of water. While both governments are silent on the issue, there are indications that Banerjee might be invited to meet Hasina in New Delhi along with the chief ministers of four other states that border Bangladesh.

The Teesta issue has been hanging fire since September 2011, mainly due to Banerjee’s stiff opposition to the treaty. India maintains it is trying to work out a consensus with the West Bengal government on the issue.