Mamata to meet Hasina in Kolkata
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a brief one-on-one meeting at the Taj Bengal hotel in Kolkata this evening on the sidelines of the India-Bangladesh cricket test match.
Talking to reporters in Kolkata yesterday, Mamata said there would be a “courtesy meeting” between Hasina and her.
“Tomorrow [today] Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be coming to the city to watch the day-night India-Bangladesh cricket test match. Apart from being present at the ground during the inauguration and felicitation programme, we will also have a one-on-one courtesy meeting at 6:00pm [India time],” she said.
There was no official word on the meeting agenda and it remains to be seen if the Teesta river water-sharing agreement would be discussed by the two leaders. Both New Delhi and Dhaka have been keen on sealing the deal since September 2011.
Mamata, a key stakeholder in the issue, has opposed the proposed agreement saying that it would affect the people of the northern part of West Bengal.
The Teesta water-sharing agreement was to be signed during the then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh in September 2011, but it had to be deferred due to objections raised by Mamata who had also dropped out of the Indian PM’s delegation.
Earlier this month, Bangladesh Foreign minister, AK Abdul Momen during his visit to Kolkata expressed hope that the issue would be resolved when Hasina meets Mamata during the cricket match.
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