Manmohan invites Ershad

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss bilateral issues, including those of Teesta water sharing and Tipaimukh Dam project.
Manmohan recently invited Ershad for a visit to India, Jatiya Party leaders said, adding they considered this visit as politically important in the context of the national elections in Bangladesh due in next year and against the backdrop of some crucial bilateral issues remaining unresolved.
Talking to The Daily Star, sources in the party said formalities were going on for an arrangement of a meeting between Ershad, a key-leader in the ruling Awami League-led grand alliance government, and the newly elected first ever Bengalee President of India Pranab Mukherjee, and other important ministers and leaders of the Indian ruling Congress, including its chief, Sonia Gandhi.
Earlier, the Indian PM invited leader of the opposition and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia but she has not responded yet, members of the BNP said.
Ershad took to the streets in recent months, demanding that the Teesta water sharing deal be signed soon and a joint study be conducted to assess environmental and socio-economic impacts of the Tipaimukh Dam project on the region before its implementation.
He also placed his demands before the Indian prime minister when he visited Bangladesh in September last year.