It's time to break Teesta stalemate

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday embarked on a four-day state visit to India with a flickering hope of breaking the stalemate on the much-delayed Teesta water-sharing treaty.

“I want to have a separate meeting with Mamata [chief minister of West Bengal], and I am waiting for that,” Hasina told a group of four Indian journalists hours after Indian Premier Narendra Modi received her at Delhi's Palam Air Force Station in a departure from his protocol.

“If I can hold a separate meeting with Mamata, it will be very good,” Hasina said on the sidelines of a reception hosted for her at the Bangladesh High Commission yesterday evening.

Asked when the meeting could take place, she said, “May be tomorrow night [tonight].”

To a query as to how hopeful she is about the Teesta deal, the Bangladesh PM said, “I am always hopeful about the Teesta. Let's see.”

Hasina also said she was looking forward to a deal on constructing a barrage on the Ganges river with India's assistance.

In reply to a question about Modi setting aside protocol and going to the Air Force Station to welcome her, Hasina said, “I am really overwhelmed by the fact that the prime minister of such a large country like India can take the trouble of coming to the airport and receive me.”

Asked what is her priority during the visit, she said, “I want an agreement on building a barrage on the Ganges with the assistance of India for the benefit of the people of the two countries.”

Earlier, Hasina was given a red carpet welcome upon her arrival. The Bangladesh PM and her Indian counterpart vowed to take the Indo-Bangla ties to a “new level”.

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj paid a courtesy call on the Bangladesh premier at the Rashtrapati Bhavan where the latter is staying.

During the four-day visit, the Teesta deal appears unlikely, as Indian officials have said "it will be a visit without water."

Hasina comes face to face with Mamata Banerjee, who has been resisting the Teesta deal, at a luncheon hosted by Modi for the visiting PM today and at a dinner by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow.

The Teesta deal was set to be signed during the then Indian PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September 2011 but had to be scrapped at the last minute due to Mamata's objections.

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi yesterday. Photo: PID

Teesta water is crucial for Bangladesh especially in the lean period from December to March when water flow temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusecs from 5,000 cusecs.

Talking to this newspaper, a senior Indian official said, “India's transforming relations with Bangladesh is an unfolding good story and shows what can be achieved in neighbourly relations with political will and mutual trust.”

In a Twitter post yesterday, Modi said, “PM Sheikh Hasina and I are determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level.”

“Delighted to welcome H.E. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on her State Visit to India,” he wrote in a separate post on the microblogging site.

In an article published in Indian newspaper “The Hindu” yesterday, Hasina expressed the hope that her India visit would take the bilateral ties to a new height.

Citing common linguistic affinity and shared cultural heritage with West Bengal, Hasina noted that there was no reason why the two countries cannot solve the Teesta issue.

The remarks by Hasina and Modi set the tone of her four-day visit, which will see the two countries sign more than 20 pacts in a range of key sectors. Those include a landmark agreement on defence cooperation and civil nuclear deal.

The framework agreement to be signed on civil nuclear energy will provide for extensive cooperation in the sector. It includes setting up of nuclear reactors by India for the Rooppur power plant in Bangladesh.

Modi and Hasina will hold comprehensive discussions today when India is set to announce a concessional loan of $5 billion, and also a credit of $500 million for Bangladesh to source military equipment from India.

During talks between the two premiers, issues such as combating terrorism, containing radicalisation of youths and enhancing counter-terror cooperation between the two countries are likely to figure prominently.

Mamata will be present when Modi and Hasina launch via video conferencing Khulna-Kolkata passenger bus and train services, and diesel supply from India's Radhikapur to Bangladesh's Parbatipur today.

To boost trade, the two sides are likely to announce setting up of another set of border haats.

Hasina will visit Ajmer tomorrow, and meet Indian business leaders and a pro-RSS think-tank on Monday before returning to Dhaka.