Sheikh Hasina aide hopes Teesta treaty will be a reality soon

Kolkata: H T Imam, the political adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said his country was hopeful that the Teesta water sharing treaty with India would become a reality in future. Mr Imam was in the city to attend the closing ceremony of the Bangladesh Vijay Utsab. On the sidelines of the event, Mr Imam said, “We are hopeful that the Teesta treaty will be a reality in future. We are hopeful that the Indian government and West Bengal government will give us the water of Teesta River in days to come.”

Responding to queries on whether the Bangladesh government is hoping for a green signal on the treaty ahead of Sheikh Hasina’s proposed visit to India in February next year, Mr Imam said, “The trip has been postponed to February. It is not about positive noises on Teesta. There are lot of issues which need to be discussed and these discussions will be completed by December.”

It may be recalled that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had in 2011 opted out of the delegation of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which visited Dhaka after the Teesta River water sharing deal. The deal was later cancelled following her opposition. However, Ms Banerjee was herself present in Dhaka in 2015 for the Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh.

When asked to comment on Ms Banerjee’s opposition to the Teesta pact, Mr Imam said, “As far as we know, she had said that the Central government did not discuss the entire matter with her. We share very good relations with Mamata Banerjee and we know that she does not have such negative thoughts regarding the deal.”