River talks open with Dhaka in New Delhi

The two-day river water talks began in New Delhi on Thursday, with Bangladesh hoping to reach an interim agreement with India on the vexed issue of Teesta river water sharing.

The meeting is being held after a gap of five years while India insisted on sorting out certain technical issues first. “The expectation is high. We are here to grow the relations between the two countries further,” Bangladesh Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen said. Asked about India’s stand that certain technical issues needed to be settled first, Sen said he would be able to speak on the issue after meeting his Indian counterpart Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Water Resources Ministry officials say while Bangladesh wants to have water sharing on 50-50 basis available at Gazoldoba — the only release point of Teesta river water to Bangladesh — India is yet to take a final call on the issue as much will depend on West Bengal Government.

There are also differences between the two neighbours on the methodology to be used to calculate availability of water in various seasons in the river to reach an agreement on water sharing.

- Asian Tribune -