One of the key contentious issues between India and Bangladesh — the sharing of Teesta river waters — finally made it to the joint statement, reaffirming India’s commitment to settle the issue “as soon as possible.”
According to the statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi “conveyed that deliberations are under way involving all stakeholders with regard to conclusion of the Interim Agreements” on at least two rivers, Teesta and Feni. While it was not very different from what was said in the joint statement in 2011, there was one critical difference. In 2015, the Chief Minister of West Bengal visited Bangladesh and participated in key meetings. Later in the evening, Mr. Modi said he would “make it [Teesta deal] happen.” “We should not lose hope ever about this deal,” he added.
India, however, addressed another long-standing demand of its neighbour — to stop the construction of the Tipaimukh Hydro-Electric Power Project on the Barak river on the eastern edge of Bangladesh.
Tipaimukh project “Prime Minister Modi also conveyed that the Tipaimukh project is not likely to be taken forward in its present form due to statutory requirements on the Indian side, and that India would not take any unilateral decision that may adversely impact Bangladesh,” the statement said. Besides, the statement reiterated India’s earlier position of not initiating “any unilateral decision on the Himalayan component of their river-interlinking project which may affect Bangladesh.”
The two countries signed and exchanged 22 instruments, including four agreements, three protocols, 14 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and one letter of consent on a range of issues.
Much stress was laid on augmenting power generation and supply. The Palatna project will be operational and 100 MW of power will go to Bangladesh, while overall supply will be augmented from 500 to 1,000 MW. “Both sides welcomed the consensus to evacuate power from the north-eastern region of India (Rangia/Rowta) to Muzaffarnagar of India through Bangladesh,” the statement said.
Both sides also claimed to have made substantial advance in connectivity. India will get access to its north-eastern States through Bangladesh, while Bangladesh will have access to Nepal and Bhutan. Moreover, the Bangladesh shipping industry will substantially gain from an agreement on waterways connectivity. India has also agreed to “remove all barriers to ensure unfettered bilateral trade (to)…narrow the trade imbalance.” India will now provide a second credit line of $2 billion to the neighbouring country.
