Bangladesh expects that the newly formed Indian government would resolve problems related to Teesta water sharing and the land boundary agreement, said Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday.
“We hope that the two major pending issues will be resolved during the period of the BJP government,” the minister said at a press briefing yesterday.
The issue of Teesta water sharing would be discussed during the upcoming visit of Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj to Dhaka, he said.
Sushma is scheduled to arrive in the city on June 25 on a three-day visit.
Teesta agreement was supposed to be signed during immediate-past Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in 2011; but it could not be inked because of strong resistance from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
About the land boundary agreement (LBA), Tofail said although Bangladesh had ratified it in 1974, India was yet to do so.
Even though former Indian foreign minister Salman Khurshid placed a bill before the Rajya Sabha to amend the constitution and pave way for ratifying the LBA – which was inked in 1974 – the agreement was yet to be passed.
During its election campaign, the Bharatiya Janata Party strongly opposed any move to hurriedly settle border disputes with Bangladesh.
Tofail said: “Bangladesh is a sovereign country and so is India, and we have friendly relationship.”
Criticising the BNP, he said: “After the [Indian] election, some political parties [in Bangladesh] showed such an attitude as if they had come to power.”
Former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi did many things for Bangladesh but when Ziaur Rahman went to India after 1975, he was accorded a good reception, Tofail said.
“The Ganges water sharing agreement was signed during the tenure of Deve Gawda, while the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord was signed when IK Gujral was Indian prime minister and both were non-Congress leaders,” he said.
On transhipment, he said in today’s world, transit and transhipment were easy matter and “we can always discuss the issue.”
Last week, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim had a series of meetings with different Indian ministers, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati. He also met Indian State Minister for Foreign Affairs BK Singh and Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh.
In her first foreign visit after assuming the responsibility as Indian foreign minister in May, Sushma will hold bilateral talks with her Bangladeshi counterpart, as well as calling on President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Sushma is also scheduled to deliver a speech on June 26 where she will explain the present Bangladesh-India relationship and the future course of action.