Bangladesh does not want ties with India to deteriorate over Teesta: Minister

Bangladesh Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee urged India to consider Dhaka’s interests in resolving the long-pending Teesta water-sharing issue, stressing that friendly ties should not suffer. Bangladesh is also pursuing a China-backed Teesta restoration project amid concerns over floods, erosion and water shortages

Dhaka: Bangladesh does not want its friendly ties with India to deteriorate over the long-pending Teesta water-sharing agreement, a senior minister has said, urging New Delhi to take into account Dhaka’s interests while pursuing its own.

“The neighbouring country is a friendly country. They have to think that while they have their interests, we also have ours,” Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee was quoted as saying by news portal tbsnews.net at a seminar here.

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“A friend should protect the interests of a friend. We never want our friendly relations with them to deteriorate,” he said.

Anee’s remarks on Sunday come amid a renewed push by Bangladesh to address the Teesta issue, including through the proposed Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project with China’s support, as Dhaka seeks to tackle recurring floods, river erosion and dry-season water shortages in the country’s northern districts.

He said the government had organised several seminars and consultations since the February election to gather expert views on the proposed Teesta project.

A detailed study based on those recommendations would help the government take concrete steps, Anee said at the seminar titled ‘Sustainable Management of the Teesta River’, jointly organised by the Ministry of Water Resources and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Describing the project as a major challenge, the minister said people in five to six northern districts had high expectations from it after suffering for years from river erosion and other problems.

“If we fail to implement it, the damage and problems faced by families in those areas will continue to increase. We have to overcome this challenge anyhow,” he said.

The Teesta issue has remained a major irritant in India-Bangladesh water cooperation for decades.

The Teesta originates in the Himalayas and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh, where it eventually joins the Jamuna, the Bangladeshi name for the Brahmaputra.

While the river is particularly important for agriculture and livelihoods in northern Bangladesh, it is vital for irrigation and power generation in West Bengal. Several hydropower projects are located in the river’s upper catchment areas, and nearly half a dozen districts in North Bengal depend on its waters.

India and Bangladesh have discussed sharing the Teesta waters since the 1980s. An interim arrangement reached in 1983 provided for 39 per cent of the water to India and 36 per cent to Bangladesh, with the remaining 25 per cent unallocated. It was followed by further negotiations, but no comprehensive long-term agreement was reached.

A draft interim agreement was finalised in 2011, which envisaged a sharing formula for the dry season. However, it could not be signed after opposition from the West Bengal government over concerns about the impact on water availability in the state.

Anee said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman regularly discusses the project, while departmental and inter-ministerial meetings review its progress.

Asserting that a treaty is “urgently needed”, he said, “Whether it is called the Teesta treaty or the Teesta master plan, or whatever is necessary to implement this project, we will move towards implementation.”

During his official visit to Beijing in June, Rahman had held high-level talks with Chinese leadership, securing Beijing’s commitment to expedite the technical feasibility study for the contentious Teesta restoration project.

Bangladesh’s decision to seek Chinese involvement in the Teesta project has added a strategic dimension to the issue.

For India, the prospect of a deeper Chinese footprint in northern Bangladesh is more sensitive because of the region’s proximity to the Siliguri Corridor, the narrow land link connecting the country’s northeastern states with the rest of India.

India has maintained that the Teesta issue needs to be addressed through discussions with all relevant stakeholders, including West Bengal.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in July said that India’s views on the proposed Teesta river project had already been conveyed to the Bangladeshi side.

He said India would factor in “all related developments” in its “overall approach to the Teesta issue”.

The Teesta issue is separate from the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, signed by India and Bangladesh in 1996 for 30 years and due to expire in December 2026. The two countries share 54 transboundary rivers and address water-related issues through the Joint Rivers Commission.