Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will call on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her hotel in Kolkata on Saturday evening. Ms. Banerjee is expected to brief the press later in the evening. However, what remains unclear is the fate of sharing of Teesta river water.
Prior to the meeting, Ms. Hasina will visit the residence of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which is now a museum.
“She will be here in the museum and interact briefly with journalists,” said Sugata Bose, grandnephew of Netaji and Trinamool Congress MP.
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Honorary doctorate
On Saturday morning, the Bangladesh Prime Minister will visit Kazi Nazrul University in Paschim Bardhaman. Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who is the Chancellor of the university, will preside over the meeting to confer the Degree of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) on her.
“I am honoured and thrilled to go to Asansol for the degree. I went to Churulia, the birthplace of one of the national poets of Bangladesh, Kazi Nazrul Islam, earlier, and the place has been developed more, thanks to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” Ms. Hasina said.
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Water-sharing talks
The key question of Saturday’s meeting between the Prime Minister and Ms. Banerjee is whether West Bengal will accept Bangladesh’s demand for releasing adequate water during the lean season. The Teesta water-sharing negotiation has been going on for decades, but yet to reach anywhere close to a settlement.
While Bangladesh’s Culture Minister, Asaduzzaman Noor, told The Hindu that they were “hopeful” of a discussion on Teesta, a former Indian diplomat said it would be wise to “look for an out-of-the-box solution” bypassing the actual sharing of water as the West Bengal government is not yet keen on sharing water.
Lean season woes
An official of the State’s Irrigation Department told The Hindu earlier that it was “not clear” to them what would Bengal gain by releasing water during the lean season. “Especially when there is no water in Teesta in the winter, the lean season,” he said.
It is expected that Ms. Hasina’s briefing will provide an answer to the question. She has never met the press in Kolkata in recent times. either has she attended a closed-door meeting with the West Bengal Chief Minister in Kolkata in recent years.
She will leave for Dhaka on Saturday night.