Editorial: Trusted neighbour

Efforts must continue to conclude the Teesta river water agreement which has been hanging fire for over a decade.

Hyderabad: While good optics, diplomatic warmth and the signing of a treaty to share the water of a key transboundary river were the positive aspects of the ongoing visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the politically sensitive Teesta river water agreement continued to remain elusive.

Though the pact on sharing of Kaushiyara river water, the first since 1996 when the Ganga water treaty was inked, is expected to benefit people in southern Assam and Bangladesh’s Sylhet division, efforts must continue to conclude the Teesta agreement. This has been hanging fire for over a decade due to the resistance from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The 400-km-long Teesta rises in the Pauhunri mountain and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh near Mekliganj, downstream of Jalpaiguri.

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The issue of water-sharing has been a key irritant in the bilateral relationship that has otherwise strengthened significantly in recent times with greater convergence of interests between the two countries. Also, the two Prime Ministers — Hasina and Narendra Modi — share a good personal rapport. There are 54 rivers that pass through the Indo-Bangladesh border and have been linked to the livelihood of the people of both countries for centuries. Over the last few years, India has benefited immensely from the security relationship with Bangladesh, and the Hasina government’s crackdown against anti-India outfits has helped New Delhi maintain peace and security in the eastern and northeastern States. There is greater cooperation between the two countries in tackling terrorism and extremism. Bangladesh too has benefited from its economic and development partnership with India.

Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia, and bilateral trade has grown steadily over the last decade. Its exports to India have gone from only $304.63 million in 2009-10 to $1.28 billion in 2020-21, while its imports from India during this same period have risen from $2.3 billion to $8.6 billion. Indicating a new level of comfort in the bilateral relations, New Delhi and Dhaka will soon commence negotiations on a Bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The two countries signed seven Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for deeper engagement in different sectors.

India has extended $9.5 billion to Bangladesh in concessional loans and is taking up several connectivity projects, which include supporting the Khulna-Darsana railway line project and the Parbatipur-Kaunia railway line project in the neighbouring country. For India, Bangladesh has been a key partner in the neighbourhood first policy — and possibly the only success story in bilateral ties among its neighbours. Bangladesh, which hosts over a million Rohingya refugees, has sought India’s help in convincing the Myanmar junta to take them back. On its part, India’s consistent position has been to support a safe, stable and early return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar from other countries.