Teesta water-sharing pact and Tipaimukh Dam project are likely to figure in the talks between former Bangladesh President Hussain Muhammad Ershad and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi tomorrow.
Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai hosted a dinner for Mr. Ershad who arrived on Monday morning. His Jatiya Party is a constituent of ruling Awami League-led alliance in Bangladesh.
Mr. Ershad’s visit to India assumes significance in some crucial bilateral issues between India and Bangladesh remaining unresolved.
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The former President had hit the streets in recent months, demanding that the Teesta river water-sharing deal between the two countries be signed soon and a joint study be conducted to assess environmental and socio-economic impacts of the Tipaimukh Dam project on the region before its implementation.
He had also put forward his demands before the Indian Prime Minister when he visited Bangladesh in September last year.
Mr. Ershad, who had ruled Bangladesh with an iron hand from 1982 to 1991 as President, has been seeking to emerge as a third political alternative and attacked both Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia accusing them of leading the country towards chaos.
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The former Bangladesh President returns to Dhaka on August 19.