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Teesta deal has to wait

Delhi tells Dhaka; insists no Himalayan rivers to be inter-linked

Pallab Bhattacharya, New Delhi
India has assured Bangladesh that the Himalayan rivers will not be included in its river inter-linking project without prior consultation with Bangladesh, and said an agreement on sharing of the Teesta waters will have to wait till a consensus with West Bengal state is reached.
Addressing a joint media conference with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni after a two-hour first meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) here yesterday, Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said the Himalayan rivers are not part of the inter-linking project as of now and even if they are included at a later stage, it will not be done without consultation with Bangladesh.
Dipu Moni said, "India has reassured us — Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Dhaka yesterday (Sunday) and SM Krishna today— that the Himalayan river system is not part of the inter-linking project. There will be no unilateral decision without consulting Bangladesh on the issue."
Replying to a question from a Bangladeshi journalist as to when the Teesta water-sharing accord will take place, Krishna said, "We are trying to develop a political consensus. It is important to take the view of all those who are dependent on the river water into account."
He went on, "In the meantime, there has been no change in the ground situation as far the Teesta water flow is concerned and this has been found by a joint technical survey at both Gazaldoba, the last point of the river before it flows into Bangladesh, on Indian side and Dalia, the entry point in Bangladesh."
Earlier in his opening remarks at the start of the news conference before the question-answer session, Krishna said," I have assured Dipu Moni that India remains committed to an early solution on the issue of sharing Teesta waters.
"Since water is a sensitive issue, in accordance with the traditions of consensual decision-making in India's democratic polity, internal consultations are on amongst stakeholders."
On the Tipaimukh multipurpose project in northeastern Manipur state, Krishna said it has been agreed that a sub-group under the India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission would be constituted to look into all aspects, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposal for joint participationin the project.
Dipu Moni said, "We have touched every aspect of bilateral relations including ratification of land boundary agreement by India, and Teesta.
"We have the satisfaction of all the achievements we have made in trade, power, water resources, connectivity and we are very happy about India's recent decision to lift the ban on cotton export which is crucial for Bangladesh."
She said, "We are very happy with the outcome of the meeting and I will return to Dhaka with confidence."
Asked about Bangladesh giving transit facility to India, she said the issue did come up at the JCC meeting, and "it has to be done in a sustainable manner."
Referring to power sector cooperation, Krishna, in his opening remarks, said work on inter-grid connectivity "is progressing and we are hopeful that 500 MW power would flow from India to Bangladesh during the summerof2013.
”We are also moving ahead with the setting up of 1,320 MW coal- based joint venture power plant (in Ramban, Khulna) which is expected to be commissioned by 2016. We welcome the participation of Bangladesh in power projects in India, particularly in the North-Eastern states of India", he added.
The Indian foreign minister said, "steady progress" has
been made in the utilisation of $1 billion Indian credit to Bangladesh.
Pointing out that Pranab Mukherjee announced in Dhaka on Sunday that $200 million of the Indian credit would be converted into grants-in-aid for projects of priority for Bangladesh, Krishna said, "Our focus now is to ensure timely delivery on the contracts that have been signed by the Government of Bangladesh.
"So far, projects worth more than $ 810 million have been agreed upon and five contracts worth $ 83 million have been signed. The first consignment of buses reached Dhaka and deliveries of railway rolling stock will start by the end of the year."
On the trade and investment front, Krishna said India's decision last year to grant zero duty access to all goods from Bangladesh has opened new opportunities for expansion of bilateral trade and "there has been a significant increase of textile exports from Bangladesh to India".
He said he had "a very useful and productive" first meeting of the JCC which is "reflective of the qualitative transformation that India-Bangladesh relations have witnessed in recentyears".
They reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation in different areas, including trade, connectivity, power, water resources, security,
border management, infrastructure, people to people contacts, culture, environment, education, among others, Krishna said. "We are happy that our mutual cooperation has resulted in commendable achievements in recent months."
Krishna said following the positive experience in a border haat in Meghalaya, new border haats are expected to be opened along the International Border in Tripura and Mizoram states as well.
The JCC meeting, which was envisaged in the joint communique issued after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September last year, was attended, among others, by Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mirazul Qayes, High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim and other senior officials from different ministries.
On the Indian side, besides Krishna, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran attended the meeting.
Dipu Moni calls on the Indian prime minister this (Tuesday) evening and it will be preceded by her separate meetings with water resources and home ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal and P Chidambaram.
She will address a select media group at 5:30pm today before leaving for Cairo.