Dhaka envoy in Delhi thinks resolving the Teesta water sharing deal and Land Boundary Agreement is the ‘litmus test’ for the newly formed BJP government and good relations between the two countries would depend on what the new government decides on these issues.
“In Bangladesh, the issues of the LBA and the Teesta agreement are now a litmus test of India’s willingness to have good relations with neighbours,” Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim said in an interview with The Hindu.
Bangladesh had accepted the assurance from the BJP government to resolve the pending issues at ‘face value’ but if New Delhi drags this along, it would lose the value, Tariq said.
“India is going to stand by its commitments, and the assurances that India is in the process of getting consensus in the federal system, we accepted that at face value,” he said.
He said these were early days for the BJP government and Bangladesh waited three years it could wait another three or four months.
“I say three-four months because in my mind there is a timeline because if you let it drag on for too long, the internal politics and dynamics in Bangladesh will make it more and more difficult to accept it at face-value, the reassurances from India,” he said.
“Getting the India-Bangladesh relationship right will be the key to opening a lot of locks in the region,” he said.
About the LBA, Tariq said there was broad consensus between the BJP and the Congress that it should go through, but it was pushed to the back-burner.
“The bill has now been tabled by the Congress party in the Rajya Sabha where the Congress is still in a majority. I hope they will not go back on their word,” he said.
About Teesta agreement, Tariq said he was continued to be worried over the consistent opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the issue.
There is sufficient water in the Teesta and it can be worked on the Ganges and Brahmaputra with three countries why not a bilateral agreement on Teesta, he said.
“I believe the Kalyan Rudra (Commission on Teesta agreement set up by the West Bengal government) report will also support the very basis of the Teesta agreement we drafted,” Tariq said.
About the issue of illegal immigration, he said Bangladesh does not encourage economic migration.
“The GDP of the north eastern states bordering us is hovering over 4%, ours is 6-7%. Logic dictates that people don’t go from rich to poor areas,” he said.