Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s participation in the G20 Summit in New Delhi will add yet another feather to the Golden Chapter in Dhaka-Delhi ties. She is set to visit New Delhi next week at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to attend the G20 Summit scheduled to begin on September 9 in the capital Delhi.
We hope that there will also be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This visit is expected to see a resolution to longstanding issues like Teesta water sharing, transit and trade deficit. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Sunday said Bangladesh will raise the Teesta water sharing issue along with other issues of mutual interest during Sheikh Hasina’s planned bilateral meeting with Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Apart from Teesta, the Ganges water treaty issue which will expire soon, will also be discussed. The Bangladesh-India Ganges water-sharing deal was signed in 1996 after long negotiations. The 30-year deal will expire by 2026. Therefore, this visit is also expected to infuse fresh dynamism into the multi-faceted and multi-dimensional relationship between the two countries.
The friendship between
Bangladesh and India will
be further strengthened
in the days to come
The two sides have been working towards making the visit by the Bangladesh prime minister a successful and a fruitful one. Bangladesh and India had always discussed the Teesta issue at the highest political level. Besides, the foreign ministry always kept it on the discussion agenda. This time too, we expect the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will talk about it. Bangladesh thinks the water-sharing issues between the two countries would be resolved through discussions as the two countries are “mentally agreed” to work on the basis of mutual understanding.
In 2011, Bangladesh and India failed to sign the Teesta water-sharing agreement due to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s last-minute opposition during the then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka. The issue remains unresolved, leaving farmers in Bangladesh’s northern region in trouble as irrigation has become difficult for them.
Bilateral relations between two countries is a role model for neighbourhood diplomacy. We also expect our neighbour state would continue to walk step by step with our country to help it achieve the desired progress, stability and prosperity.
Since Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971, the two countries shared history and culture, mutual trust and respect, longstanding friendship and continued cooperation. The relationship between the two nations is “written with blood” and it has reached a new height under the dynamic leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s daughter Sheikh Hasina. This bonding of friendship and fraternity between Bangladesh and India will be further strengthened in the days to come.
