Mamata not accompanying Indian PM to Bangladesh

Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has expressed unwillingness to accompany Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh, during his September 6-8 tour, as Central government in New Delhi has increased the proportion of water share for Bangladesh from 25,000 cusecs [cubic feet per second] to 50,000 cusecs.

The Indian government is actively considering offering a number of benefits to Bangladesh during the upcoming visit of Dr. Singh to exhibit the good gesture of India towards the people of Bangladesh. Policymakers in New Delhi believe that, such gesture and openness in helping a neighboring nation like Bangladesh is "extremely important" for India is ultimately curing the wounds of its affected neighbors and gaining confidence of the South Asian neighboring nations, which ultimately will help India in emerging as a regional power.

According to the draft treaty of water sharing with Bangladesh, waters of the Teesta would be shared between India and Bangladesh on the basis of the measurement of the flow of water at Gojoldoba Point, 25 kilometers from Siliguri in North Bengal. It is learnt that Mamata Banerjee has objected to the fact that there was a difference in the quantity of water sharing according to the draft and the final version of the Teesta Treaty. Far more water was being conceded to Bangladesh, Mamata feels, than she had agreed to. Agitations against the treaty have already started in the north Bengal districts of West Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar in India. It is also indicated that West Bengal's newly elected Chief Minister will start demonstration programs against the decision of the Central government is giving higher proportion of water share than the share she recommended. The Trinamul Congress led by Mamata Banerjee is set to start campaign against the treaty from today.

Meanwhile Bangladesh has already declared signing of the 15-year Teesta Treaty onn September 6, 2011 in Dhaka.

To give a boost to their relations, Bangladesh and India have finalised over a dozen deals, including a comprehensive framework agreement for bilateral cooperation.

The agreements, MoUs and protocols are likely to be signed when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives here on a two-day visit on Tuesday.

Dr. Singh will be accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Chief Ministers of Meghalaya, Tripura, Assam and Mizoram — Mukul Sangma, Manik Sarkar, Tarun Gogoi and Lal Thanhawla. National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, who was in Dhaka on Saturday, gave final touches to the deals, including that on sharing of the Teesta river water. The framework agreement is likely to lay the foundation and broad principles of the future relationship. The two countries had a 25-year Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace, which got expired in 1997.

Dhaka and New Delhi are likely to sign a package protocol under the 1974 Indira-Mujib Land Boundary Agreement, which will deal with five long-standing issues — exchange of enclaves and adversely possessed lands, demarcation of 6.5 km of un-demarcated border, allowing Bangladeshis to use "Tin Bigha Corridor" for 24 hours, and finalisation of a strip map.

The agreements ready to be signed are: 15-year interim water sharing agreements on the Teesta and Feni rivers and import of 250 megawatt of electricity from India. The MoUs to be signed are on protection of the Sundarbans, cooperation in the fisheries and renewable energy sectors and joint venture on a coal-fired 1,320-MW power plant in Bangladesh.

One of the MoUs will be on trade liberalization allowing India duty-free access to 61 Bangladeshi products. A protocol on Protection of Royal Bengal Tiger in the Sundarbans is also likely to be signed.

Besides, the two countries may sign a MoU on preservation of biodiversity in the Sundarbans.

According to the draft protocol, both countries will patrol the waterways of their portions of the world's largest mangrove forest to prevent poaching and smuggling of wildlife.

Cooperation between Dhaka University and Jawaharlal Nehru University will also be initiated.

At the request of Bangladesh government, New Delhi will also allow inclusion of state-owned Bangladesh Television within the cable network in India, while private television channels will continue to be barred, as Dhaka did not make any request for allowing private television channels in Bangladesh to be made available within Indian cable networks.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claimed that Assam would gain more in the proposed land swap agreement between India and Bangladesh, to be discussed and signed during the Prime Minister's scheduled visit to Bangladesh on 6^th and 7^th of this month. According to Gogoi, the agreement would not only be beneficial for Assam but Assam would gain more land than Bangladesh once the land swapping pact is signed between India and Bangladesh. Stating that there was no demarcation of the border along the disputed stretches, Gogoi suggested that the Indira-Mujib agreement of 1974 could be the base for settling the issue in an honorable and favorable manner for both sides.

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Mamata not accompanying Indian PM to Bangladesh

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