Moni, Manmohan talk LBA, Teesta

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told Foreign Minister Dipu Moni that New Delhi recognised that it was to ratify its 1974 land boundary agreement with Dhaka as well as the additional protocol added to it in 2011.

Singh, however, did not make any specific commitment on the stalled agreement for sharing of water of Teesta, but noted that water of the common river continued to flow from India to Bangladesh, even as New Delhi is trying to evolve “national consensus” on the issue.

He also reassured Moni that India would not make any move detrimental to the interests of Bangladesh with regard to utilisation of shared water resources.

“We intend to take it (ratification of Land Boundary Agreement) to Parliament,” official sources in Indian Government quoted Singh as telling Moni on Friday.

Moni had raised the issue during a meeting in New Delhi. Singh’s government is understood to be preparing to make a fresh attempt to ratify the land boundary agreement during the monsoon session of Parliament beginning on Aug 5.

Moni, who is currently on a visit to New Delhi, also had a meeting with Arun Jaitley, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party – the principal opposition party in Indian Parliament. She is understood to have sought the BJP’s support for early ratification of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and the additional protocol added to it during Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Bangladesh in Sept 2011.

Jaitley is the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s bicameral Parliament. His party joined the Asom Gana Parishad – a regional party influential in northeastern Indian state of Assam – in opposing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s move to ratify the land deal between India and Bangladesh.

During the last session of Parliament, the United Progressive Alliance government faced stiff resistance from the opposition while trying to introduce a Bill to amend the Constitution for ratification of the 1974 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement.

Two parliamentarians from the Asom Gana Parishad tried to snatch a copy of the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill from India’s External Affairs Minister, Salman Khurshid, when the latter was trying to introduce it in the Rajya Sabha on May 7 last.

“I am sure all parties in India will see the merit in solving the outstanding boundary issues which have lingered long enough," Moni told journalists in New Delhi on Friday.

“If this Bill does not go through and if the Teesta water-sharing deal is not signed, they will surely become important issues in the rundown to parliament elections in my country," Moni said, hinting at the obvious discomfort of the ruling Awami League with such a scenario.

Notwithstanding uncertainties over ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement and the deal for sharing of water of Teesta, Singh on Friday noted that India-Bangladesh bilateral trade had “grown impressively” and exports by both countries to each other had risen significantly.

Exports from Bangladesh to India last year stood at a record $ 565 million, official sources in Indian government quoted Singh as telling Moni.

According to the sources, Moni noted “enormous progress in bilateral relations since the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to New Delhi in January 2010 and that of Singh to Dhaka in September 2011”.

She is understood to have also noted that most of the decisions agreed upon during the prime ministerial visits had been “either implemented already or under implementation”. It was also noted that the bilateral mechanisms were working well including the Joint Consultative Committee headed by Moni and her Indian counterpart Khurshid.

Moni also had a meeting with Khurshid on Friday. Sources said that Singh and Moni had also noted bilateral cooperation in the power sector.

Official sources in New Delhi said that India would be able to supply 250 MW power to Bangladesh by Sept, as the works on inter-grid connectivity had almost completed.

Works on the 1320 MW coal-based power project in Khulna – a joint venture of the Bangladesh Power Development Board and National Thermal Power Corporation of India - would also be initiated by Sept, sources added.

Reiterating New Delhi’s vision on water resources, Singh suggested that Bangladesh could join as “a stakeholder” in the Tipaimukh Hydro Electric project of India.