Despite rivalry, Mamata to join Modi, Hasina at lunch

New Delhi: With Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina beginning her keenly-awaited four-day visit to India on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited his political foe, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, to an official lunch he is scheduled to host for the Bangladesh Prime Minister on Saturday, an invitation which she has apparently accepted.

The meeting could be awkward as there has been little progress on the contentious Teesta river-water sharing issue. While the Centre is keen on it, Ms Banerjee has been stalling it because of concerns about the impact it will have on West Bengal.

Apart from this contentious issue, the two countries are expected to sign at least 25 pacts covering sectors such as defence and civil nuclear energy during Ms Hasina’s visit. India is also set to announce a line of credit of  $500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies.

In an indication of the close ties between the two countries, New Delhi is also working on a separate, additional line of credit that could all together work out to a whopping $5 billion (including previous lines of credit announced) although this has not been formalised as yet.

Ms Banerjee will be present at a function on Saturday where the two PMs will unveil road and rail links between the two countries, and it is possible that the three leaders may discuss the Teesta issue.

Progress on the Teesta deal cannot take place unless Ms Banerjee is on board. While Bangladesh is very keen on an agreement on Teesta, Ms Hasina is aware of the political hostility between PM Modi’s BJP and Ms Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress.

India had earlier conveyed to Bangladesh that since India has a federal system, any pact will need the “full, unstinted agreement of the West Bengal government”, and that there are “still some degree of doubts expressed by the West Bengal government”.

Sripriya Ranganathan, joint secretary in the Bangladesh-Myanmar division of ministry of external affairs (MEA), admitted that the Teesta agreement remains a “challenge”.

According to some reports, the Teesta deal, all set to be inked during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh in September 2011, had to be postponed at the last minute due to objections by Ms Banerjee.

Teesta water is crucial for Bangladesh, especially in the leanest period from December to March, when the water flow comes down to less than 1,000 cusecs from 5,000 cusecs. The West Bengal CM has been citing water crisis in her state and is wary that the agreement could worsen the situation.

Sheikh Hasina and PM Modi will attend a function on Saturday afternoon to honour the martyrs of the 1971 Indo-Pak war which resulted in the liberation of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan).

Sheikh Hasina will visit Ajmer on Sunday and return to Delhi the same evening to attend a banquet being hosted in her honour by President Pranab Mukherjee. She will meet Indian business leaders on Monday.

This is Ms Hasina’s first bilateral visit to India in her current term as Prime Minister. She will be staying at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. She had visited India last year for the Brics-Bimstec summit in Goa.