Delhi positive on Teesta

A leading Indian negotiator of the trans-boundary rivers yesterday said they would promptly respond to the signing of the much-awaited Teesta water-sharing agreement whenever Bangladesh proposes it to them.

A Bangladeshi negotiator, however, said the final draft of the treaty has been on the table for long.

“We are very positive on all the issues of Bangladesh,” said Indian negotiator C Lal, a member of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission, when this paper approached him at a meeting in the capital.

Lal was leading a five-member delegation at the 62nd meeting of the Joint Committee on sharing of Ganges water at Farakka.

Only Bangladesh could tell when the issue should be discussed because they would propose it, said Lal, also the co-chairman of joint committee.

“We will respond immediately when they propose the time,” he said.

However, Mofazzal Hossain, a member of Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission and co-chairman of the joint committee, said the Teesta treaty was finally drafted in 2010 and it was supposed to be signed by Dhaka and Delhi in early September 2011.

But at the eleventh hour, it was shelved in the face of opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said.

Mofazzal was leading a five-member Bangladesh delegation at the Ganges meeting.

“There is nothing to propose afresh, we have nothing to propose new, everything is on the table,” he said, adding, “It [the treaty] is just waiting to be signed by the two prime ministers.”

Every time Bangladesh foreign secretary or foreign minister visit India and raise the Teesta treaty issue, the Indian counterparts say they are trying to win the consent of Mamata Banerjee.

The issue automatically comes up at any bilateral negotiation with India, said Mofazzal.

“It is often discussed on the sidelines but unofficially.”

Mamata'a last-minute U-turn on the issue caused a constraint on the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in signing the deal.

The Indian PM made a two-day visit to Dhaka in early September 2011 and was supposed to sign the water treaty, which is very crucial for Bangladesh.

Manmohan's visit to Bangladesh, first by an Indian prime minister in 12 years then, suffered a damper after the last-minute drama from Mamata Banerjee cast doubt over the signing of Teesta water-sharing treaty.

The deal that reportedly provided for 50-50 sharing of the river water met protests from Mamata who was so upset that she pulled out from the entourage of Manmohan.

Mamata reportedly agreed to share up to 33,000 cusecs of water, but the final draft mentions sharing of 50,000 cusecs, an arrangement she finds harmful to West Bengal state.