Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, who since 2010 was “confident” of signing a water sharing deal with India, Thursday confessed to the parliament that the Teesta treaty would not go through within the Awami League government’s current term.
Replying to a question from BNP MP Shammi Akter, the foreign minister told the parliament that the signing of the Teesta pact was not possible due to the “internal political complexities” of India.
The deal on sharing the water of the river Teesta, on which the northern regions of greater Rangpur and Dinajpurare are very much dependent, was one of the key pledges of the Awami League government.
“The deal is yet to be signed due to India’s complexities in its internal politics. It is not possible to give a timeframe for the singing of the deal as it is a completely internal affair of India,” Dipu Moni said in her written reply to the opposition’s question.
She said the Indian premier had apologised for not being able to pen the water sharing deal despite the cordiality between the two neighbours.
The foreign minister, however, said the government has been continuing its diplomatic efforts for the signing of the agreement as soon as possible.
In the joint statement on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Delhi tour, Monmohan Singh gave a concrete assurance on the signing of a deal on sharing the water of the river Teesta, which enters Bangladesh through the greater Rangpur district.
Using the river’s stream, the Bangladesh Water Development Board runs an irrigation project which hugely benefits the farmers of the northern region.
The Indian government, particularly the government in West Bengal, however, has been diverting the flow of the water, resulting in scarceness of water downstream.
The authorities of the two countries had finalised the agreement, which was set to be signed during the Indian premier Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka on September 5-6, 2011. The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was a member of the entourage, objected to the signing and pulled out of the tour.
At a press conference on September 4, the Indian foreign ministry announced that the Teesta deal had fallen through due to objections from the West Bengal government.
However, on the night of September 4, Dipu Moni said the Teesta deal would be signed next day, which ultimately did not occur.
Subsequently, the foreign minister has repeatedly told the parliament and journalists that the Teesta deal would be signed “as soon as possible”.
