Dhaka hopes for Teesta progress

Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes yesterday said Bangladesh expects progress in the long running issue of sharing waters of the Teesta River during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi next month.
Hasina's visit, deferred due to the Copenhagen climate change summit, is likely to take place on January 11.
During the planned visit several agreements and memorandum of understandings are likely to be signed to facilitate transportation of India's Over Dimensional Consignments (ODC) for Palatana power project in Tripura,
Strengthening Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute to remove the hassle of certification of Bangladeshi export goods, facilitating Bangladesh-Nepal and Bangladesh-Bhutan connectivity through India.
To arrive at a mandate from the Hasina-Manmohan summit, Dhaka sought a date from Delhi to hold ministerial-level Joint River Commission meeting before the PM's visit. The Indian side has not yet responded to the Bangladesh's intention.
In reply to a question the foreign secretary said giving facility to India to transport its ODCs through Ashuganj Port is not a transit.
Asked about the killing of Bangladeshi citizens by Indian Border Security Force (BSF), Quayes said the Bangladesh side keeps sustained pressure on the Indian side to stop the killing.
Despite assurance from India to show maximum tolerance by BSF, incidents of killing are taking place along the border.
"We're keeping pressure and we're trying to find out other ways to address the problem," he said.
On Bangladesh-Myanmar, Quayes said the foreign secretary level consultations will be held here this month where existing issues like border trade, banking facility, repatriation of Rohingya refugees, maritime boundary etc will be discussed.
However, he said a technical level meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar on maritime boundary issue will be held in Dhaka on January 8.
He said regular engagement with Myanmar will help address the issues between the two countries.