The bilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Bangladesh and India is likely to be held in Guwahati, the capital of Assam, later this month.
India’s proposal to hold the meeting in Guwahati, the capital of Assam, is accepted by Bangladesh initially, according to sources.
As a result, if all goes well, the bilateral meeting will be held in Guwahati from May 26 to 29. An official announcement in this regard will come soon.
"The government's initiative to make the northeast of our country a focus area in India-Bangladesh relations is also a big reason for naming Guwahati as the venue of the meeting," a senior Indian foreign ministry official told Bangla Tribune.
Another reason is that the Shillong-based research institute Asian Confluence organized an international conclave on rivers in Guwahati in the last week of May where both AK Abdul Momen and S Jaishankar are scheduled to be attending.
The government of Bangladesh has recently expressed its interest in enhancing all kinds of connectivity with the North East of India, including trade, tourism, and travel.
The “River Conclave” of Asian Confluence will also have a detailed discussion on the rivers in the region and various aspects of their water resource management - the bilateral meeting to be held at the same place at the same time will inevitably cast its shadow.
As a result, in the forthcoming meeting in Guwahati, it is expected that water sharing of common rivers including Teesta will be included in the agenda.
Bangladesh has hinted that the issue of the unresolved Teesta Treaty will be raised loudly at the next meeting.
Earlier, Modi had invited leaders of many countries like China, Japan, Russia, and Britain to various cities like Ahmedabad, Varanasi, and Chennai.
He even held a summit meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Goa in October 2016. But that was during the BRICS summit.
If the foreign ministers' meeting in Guwahati is successful, Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi may soon be seen meeting in other Indian cities besides Delhi.
