Nothing concrete about Teesta, LBA
Official talks between Bangladesh and India on Thursday ended without any substantial progress towards settling the issues of sharing of the Teesta water and land boundary agreement.
‘They [India] are trying to build up internal consensus. She [Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj] is hopeful about signing of an agreement on Teesta,’ foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali told a post-talks media briefing when a correspondent wanted to know about the fate of the two long-pending issues.Mahmood who had an hour-long meeting with Sushma Swaraj at the foreign ministry in the morning said the discussions were held in a cordial atmosphere.
About the land boundary agreement, he said the Indian minister had expressed the hope the agreement would be signed, saying that the matter was ‘under active consideration’ of the Indian Rajya Sabha.
Asked whether the Indian side had given any time frame for passage of the LBA pact by the Indian parliament, Mahmood posed a counter question, ‘How can one give you a time frame in parliamentary practices…It is not feasible.’
Later, briefing the media separately, official spokesperson of the Indian external affairs ministry Syed Akbar Uddin told a correspondent that before coming to Dhaka, Sushma Swaraj had talks with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the Teesta water and land boundary issues.
Without giving details, he said the conversation between Sushma and Mamata was ‘pleasant’ and ‘useful’ and Mamata had wished Sushma’s Dhaka visit all success.Mahmood Ali said Sushma Swaraj had handed over an invitation letter from Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to prime minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India.In the letter Modi said, ‘For us, Bangladesh is not merely a neighbour, but a nation with which we share history, culture, civilisation and enduring links between people.’
He said, ‘Emotional bonds of Bangladesh’s birth as an independent nation and the ideals of democracy, secularism, pluralism and rule of law also serve as a link between India and Bangladesh.’Modi said ‘… I am delighted to accept your (Hasina’s) kind invitation to visit Bangladesh. I also take this opportunity to extend an invitation to you to visit India at your earliest convenience.’
Mahmood quoted Sushma as saying during the official talks that ‘India is always there for Bangladesh.’
The talks covered political and security cooperation, cooperation in power, trade and development, regional and sub-regional cooperation, water resources management and people-to-people contact and cultural exchanges.On security cooperation, the Bangladesh side iterated that the Bangladesh soil under no circumstances would be allowed to be used for any terrorist activities.
About border management, the Indian side renewed its commitment to bring down the border killing at zero level and both sides laid stress on regular meetings of deputy commissioners and district magistrates of frontier districts to eliminate cross-border crimes.
- See more at: Nothing concrete about Teesta, LBA
Official talks between Bangladesh and India on Thursday ended without any substantial progress towards settling the issues of sharing of the Teesta water and land boundary agreement.
‘They [India] are trying to build up internal consensus. She [Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj] is hopeful about signing of an agreement on Teesta,’ foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali told a post-talks media briefing when a correspondent wanted to know about the fate of the two long-pending issues.Mahmood who had an hour-long meeting with Sushma Swaraj at the foreign ministry in the morning said the discussions were held in a cordial atmosphere.
About the land boundary agreement, he said the Indian minister had expressed the hope the agreement would be signed, saying that the matter was ‘under active consideration’ of the Indian Rajya Sabha.
Asked whether the Indian side had given any time frame for passage of the LBA pact by the Indian parliament, Mahmood posed a counter question, ‘How can one give you a time frame in parliamentary practices…It is not feasible.’
Later, briefing the media separately, official spokesperson of the Indian external affairs ministry Syed Akbar Uddin told a correspondent that before coming to Dhaka, Sushma Swaraj had talks with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the Teesta water and land boundary issues.
Without giving details, he said the conversation between Sushma and Mamata was ‘pleasant’ and ‘useful’ and Mamata had wished Sushma’s Dhaka visit all success.Mahmood Ali said Sushma Swaraj had handed over an invitation letter from Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to prime minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India.In the letter Modi said, ‘For us, Bangladesh is not merely a neighbour, but a nation with which we share history, culture, civilisation and enduring links between people.’
He said, ‘Emotional bonds of Bangladesh’s birth as an independent nation and the ideals of democracy, secularism, pluralism and rule of law also serve as a link between India and Bangladesh.’Modi said ‘… I am delighted to accept your (Hasina’s) kind invitation to visit Bangladesh. I also take this opportunity to extend an invitation to you to visit India at your earliest convenience.’
Mahmood quoted Sushma as saying during the official talks that ‘India is always there for Bangladesh.’
The talks covered political and security cooperation, cooperation in power, trade and development, regional and sub-regional cooperation, water resources management and people-to-people contact and cultural exchanges.On security cooperation, the Bangladesh side iterated that the Bangladesh soil under no circumstances would be allowed to be used for any terrorist activities.
About border management, the Indian side renewed its commitment to bring down the border killing at zero level and both sides laid stress on regular meetings of deputy commissioners and district magistrates of frontier districts to eliminate cross-border crimes.
- See more at: Nothing concrete about Teesta, LBA
