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Talks on water sharing concludes

Accord to convene JRC meet, set up jt monitoring system

By Diplomatic Correspondent
Foreign secretaries of Bangladesh and India yesterday said that they had reached an understanding to convene a meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission and establish a joint monitoring system in a bid to find a 'permanent solution' to the vexed water sharing issue that has bedeviled relations be tween the two neighbours since the commissioning of the Farakka Barrage 20 years ago.
The announcement was made at two press briefings after what seemed to be the third and last round of secretary-level talks, initiated at the behest of the prime ministers of the two countries during the SAARC summit in Delhi last month.
Tile Joint Rivers Commission (IRC! was set up soon aftei independence but its
meetings had been discontinued for some time now. Similarly, a monitoring system was also in vogue, but it was now said that monitoring would take place at four points as against two places previously.
While Indian Foreign Secretary Salman Haider did not specify the date of the JRC meeting, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Farooq Sobhan said it is likely to be held within the next two months.
Salman Haider briefed the press' at state guest house Padma at 9 in the morning while Farooq Sobhan met the press at 2 pm at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Bangladesh foreign secretary was present at the press briefing of his Indian counterpart but chose not to answer questions.
Both the foreign secretaries
at their meetings with the press, however, stated that the water issue was not related to any other issue including that of transit.
Salman Haider said, "We are giving high priority to the water issue. We are sensitive to Bangladesh's views and we are strongly committed to a mutually acceptable arrangement.”
Asked what was delaying the solution to the water sharing issue for such a long time and if he was aware of the environmental and ecological damage being caused to Bangladesh, Salman said "These are issues which I suppose hive to be looked at by the JRC. I am not in a position to comment on environmental and economic problems."
When told by a newsmen that Bangladesh had received only around 9000 cusecs of water in the last two lean seasons and that too was mostly through seepage, the Indian foreign secretary replied that there were substantial discrepancies in the figures. He said the figures would be 7000 or 8000 cusecs more or even higher and he has provided those to the Bangladesh side.
Continuing he said "It is not correct that there had been seepages only. I think there had been releases and there should be some regeneration in the river, and the flow should increase as it goes down the river."
Water issue & transit delinked
When asked by another newsman whether the unilateral withdrawal and diversion of the waters of an international river without any understanding with a lower riparian country was not against the cannons of international law, the Indian foreign secretary was nonplussed.
He said "I do not wish to be drawn into a debate, though I am not averse to it. But I must mention that what you said about international law, it is not as clear cut as you have made it. And 1 would like to repeat that we have addressed the issue with the aim of having a water sharing agreement which I hope, we will have, and will meet the requirements, of both the countries. "
Replying to a question on transit, the Indian foreign secretary said "We would certainly feel that availability of transit facilities would be de
sirable and of mutual benefit and would allow easier access to our north eastern states." He, however, added that it was a separate issue independent of the water problem.
Farooq Sobhan
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Farooq Sobhan, giving his reaction on the outcome of the talks, said: "The most formidable aspect was that there was a clear commitment from the Indian side for a permanent settlement of the Ganges water issue and that it was not linked with any other issue."
He said a permanent solution is better than going back to the negotiating table every few years. The reconvening of the meeting of the JRC was not only useful but also nee essary because it would provide a mechanism for discussion, and monitoring of the Ganges flow and what was happening in the upstream and what did not exist now.
Stressing the need for maintaining pressure on India for a permanent solution, he said "We don t want to go from one year to the next as to how much water we can Ret."
Asked how Bangladesh would keep pressure on India, he said taking it to the international fora could be one way.
"Already we have taken the Ganges issue to the international community. Besides there is a new sensibility in India among the population about ecological and envi ronmental concern."
About glint monitoring, he said it will now take place at Farakka Barrage, the Hardinge
Bridge, the navigational lock gate. and the mouth of the feeder canal.
About the flow of water in the last dry season beginning January 1 to May 31, he said Bangladesh actually received in March 22,000 cusecs of water while India claimed it released 32,000 cusecs and in April Bangladesh received 14,000 cusecs while India claimed it released 19,000 cusecs.
He said an agreement on a jiermanent flow will facilitate the construction of a barrage on the Ganges inside Bangladesh for which the country is keen to mobilise international funds.
Responding to a question he said that the Indian side had asked for some information about the proposed Ganges barrage and 'we have agreed to provide that in due course.'
He said Bangladesh has ex pressed its concern at the upstream diversion of water of the river Barak at Tipaimukh and also about the proposed Kanpur dam. The Indians assured that these matters would be taken up by the JRC.
Bringing the Indians to the negotiating table was an ar duous task and "we intend to move from here," he said.
Farooq Sobhan said, "We now have a commitment. Our effort would be to translate this commitment into an agreement
Through analysis it had been explained to the Indians that it now needed less water lor the Calcutta Port and this could he made available to Bangladesh, he added
Regarding the desired
quantum of water, Farooq Sobhan said, “We maintain the stand based on the 1977 position."
There was enormous scojie for developing regional cooperation on water which could bring enormous benefits. This was mooted by the Global Infrastructure Fund, the foreign secretary said.
Besides, both Nepal and Bangladesh are in agreement about harnessing the Himalayan waters, but India is still not, he said and hoped that they would be more accommodating.
The foreign secretary said Indo-Banglaaesh relations remained complex as ever and the Indian foreign secretary has recognised that there can be no meaningful improvement in the bilateral relations unless the Farakka problem is solved.
He said "we have indicated that unless the water issue is resolved, we will not look into other issues. ” ’
Asked about the transit issue, he said: "The Indians raised it, but we told them it is not on the table till the wa ter issue is resolved."
Farooq Sobhan said it is in India's interest to solve the water problem. The Indians themselves were being gradu ally affected ecologically and environmentally by the Farakka Barrage, he added
Responding to a question the foreign secretary said, whenever Indian officials asked him why was popular sentiment in Bangladesh so much hostile to and critical of India, he had told them that it was a consequence of their neglect and the lack of an agreement on water sharing.