JRC meeting 'very soon'
Seeking to give a fresh push to reach a deal on sharing of the Teesta and other common rivers, Indian Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti will travel to Dhaka "very soon" for attending the Joint River Commission meeting (JRC).
This was stated by visiting Bangladesh Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud when he met Bharti at state-owned Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi where she hosted a high tea for him yesterday.
Emerging from the meeting, Mahmud told reporters that he invited Bharti to Dhaka for the JRC meeting "very soon”, which she accepted.
Replying to a question when the meeting would be held, he said it would be set through diplomatic channels.
Bharti, talking to reporters separately a short while later, said she had accepted Mahmud's invitation, and the mutually convenient date would be finalised.
In 2010, the last meeting of ministerial-level JRC was held in Delhi.
Mahmud said he took up the issue of sharing of waters of the Teesta and other common rivers.
Mahmud said Bharti had assured him that India would not do anything that would be detrimental to the interests of Bangladesh.
Asked about the Teesta water-sharing deal, Bharti said India has a cooperative federal structure and talks are on with the concerned state (West Bengal) for evolving a consensus on the issue.
Answering another question, she said she would hold talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the Teesta issue before attending the JRC meeting in Dhaka.
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