India asks patience, trust for Teesta deal

India today asked Dhaka “to have patience and trust” for Teesta water sharing deal in view of the delay in signing of the much-awaited agreement.

“Bangladesh and India need to wait…I think we have to wait for a solution to emerge and it, when emerges, naturally has to depend on mutual acceptability of both countries,” said Indian envoy in Dhaka Pankaj Saran at a diplomatic talk today.

Voicing some principles on the basis of which any agreement regarding Teesta will have to take place, the Indian high commissioner said any formula and any draft has to have “burden sharing, equity and consensus.”

“Water is a major challenge for both of our countries as well as this entire region. We have to find ways to manage this precious resource, to share it and to make the best possible use of what we have,” he said.

The envoy said both countries have to share the pain and find equitable solutions which will involve burden sharing and that have broad consensus among all stakeholders, he added.

“Once the solution arrives, everyone will know about it,” Pankaj added in response to a volley of questions on pending and vital bilateral issues.

On implementation of the Land Bounday Agreement (LBA), he said India is committed to Teesta and implementation LBA, and they are working on completing their internal procedures at the earliest.

In reply to a question about Indian evaluation of Bangladesh’s last three months of political stalemate, Saran said India does not evaluate situations of other countries.

“We are busy with our own country and do not evaluate situations in other countries,” he said.

The Indian envoy was speaking at a programme organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association Bangladesh (DCAB) at the Jatiya Press Club with its President Masud Karim today in the Chair.