India signals interest in Bangladesh’s Teesta project eyed by China
- In Reports
- 10:41 PM, Jun 22, 2024
- Myind Staff
On Saturday, India expressed its interest in undertaking the conservation of the Teesta River within Bangladesh, a $1-billion project currently being considered by China. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina announced a range of initiatives to strengthen cooperation in trade, digital issues, and connectivity.
Hasina, one of the leaders from seven regional countries invited to the inauguration of Modi’s third term on June 9, returned to New Delhi within a fortnight as the first foreign leader to make a bilateral visit. Officials from both sides indicated that this reflects India’s ongoing commitment to its “Neighbourhood First” policy and the significance of their bilateral relations.
Following discussions with Hasina, Modi announced in a joint media interaction that an Indian technical team will soon visit Dhaka to hold talks on the conservation and management of the Bangladeshi section of the Teesta River, one of the 54 rivers shared by the two countries.
“Fifty-four shared rivers connect India and Bangladesh. We have been cooperating on flood management, early warning [and] drinking water projects. We have decided to start negotiations at the technical level for renewal of the Ganga Water Treaty of 1996,” he said, speaking in Hindi and referring to a 30-year pact valid until 2026.
People familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said India’s announcement of its interest in Bangladesh’s long-pending plan to dredge and develop the Teesta River is significant given the pressure from China regarding the project. Beijing has submitted a formal proposal for the project, estimated at $1 billion, while New Delhi has conveyed its concerns to Dhaka about the work being awarded to any Chinese firm.
With Hasina scheduled to visit China next month, sources indicated that India’s announcement would assist her in deflecting pressure from Beijing regarding the project. Apart from concerns about water flow data and other cross-border information related to the Teesta River potentially being accessed by China, India is apprehensive about Chinese personnel establishing a presence at the project site near the "chicken's neck," a narrow strip of land linking the northeast region to the rest of the country.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told a media briefing that the management of shared water resources is a “crucial and sensitive matter”. He added, “Naturally, given our close and friendly ties with Bangladesh, cross-boundary river issues – and Teesta is one of them – become important.”
The two leaders discussed the conservation of the Teesta, which requires a “fair degree of technical management”, Kwatra said. “It’s less about water-sharing per se, it’s more about the management of the water flows within Teesta River,” he said, adding the two leaders agreed that an Indian technical team will undertake efforts to make progress on this issue.
Modi and Hasina signed off on a joint document to guide relations in the coming years – the “India-Bangladesh Shared Vision for the Future: Enhanced Connectivity, Commerce and Collaboration for Shared Prosperity” – that is aligned with the “Viksit Bharat 2047” and “Smart Bangladesh 2041” visions.
The two sides also presented two additional joint documents outlining shared visions for a digital partnership and a green partnership.
“Today, we have prepared a futuristic vision for cooperation in new areas. The youth of both countries will benefit from consensus reached on cooperation in many areas such as green partnership, digital partnership, blue economy [and] space,” Modi said.
“We have kept in our focus connectivity, commerce and collaboration. In the last ten years, we have restored the [physical] connectivity that existed before 1965. Now we will emphasise more on digital and energy connectivity,” he said.
Hasina, speaking in Bengali, said, “In the whole world, we see war and conflict in different regions, but in our subcontinent, we have been able to sustain a wonderful friendly relationship.”
She added, “Even in our cooperation in socio-economic development, I think it was very important for us to get the help of a large economic power like India. It is because of our friendly relations that we have been able to make a lot of progress.”
The two sides announced initiatives to boost connectivity, trade, commerce, and people-to-people exchanges. These include a new passenger train between Kolkata and Rajshahi, the seventh cross-border rail link, the trial run next month of a goods train on Bangladesh Railways from Gede-Darshana to Haldibari-Chilahati cross-border inter-change point, and a new bus service between Kolkata and Chittagong.
India will provide a grant for constructing an inland container depot at Sirajganj in Bangladesh. Additionally, a commercial agreement was reached between the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Bangladesh Bank for the launch of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Following a tripartite agreement concluded last year, the export of 40MW of power from Nepal to Bangladesh through the Indian grid will commence soon. Additionally, Bangladesh has joined India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.
In the realm of people-to-people exchanges, India announced plans to introduce e-visas for medical patients from Bangladesh. Additionally, India will establish a new assistant high commission at Rongpur, marking the fifth such mission in Bangladesh.
Furthermore, India will offer 350 training slots for Bangladeshi police officers. The Muktijoddha Scheme, aimed at providing medical treatment to Bangladeshi patients, was also launched with an upper limit of ₹800,000 per patient.
The two sides also signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) including one between the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) and Bangladesh’s ICT and telecom ministry for jointly developing a small satellite for Bangladesh and sending it into space on an Indian launch vehicle.
There were MoUs on maritime cooperation and the blue economy, railway connectivity, and cooperation on oceanographic research. The two sides further renewed three MoUs on cooperation in health, disaster management and fisheries.
Modi highlighted several achievements over the past year between India and Bangladesh, including the transit of cargo for India's northeastern states through Bangladesh's Mongla port, the commissioning of both units of the 1,320MW Maitree thermal power plant, and the initiation of trade in Indian rupees. He also noted discussions with Hasina on enhancing defence cooperation, including the modernisation of Bangladesh's armed forces.
“We have decided to strengthen our engagement on counter-terrorism, de-radicalisation and peaceful management of borders,” he said.
Image source: Hindustan Times
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