Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh will have a face-saving 'good news' to convey to Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina when the two meet in midtown Manhattan on Saturday.
Published : 28 Sep 2013, 10:09 AM
He will tell Hasina of his government's resolve to introduce the 119th constitutional bill to operationalise the land boundary agreement between the two countries during the winter session of the parliament in December.
"The Prime Minister can tell her Bangladesh counterpart of the new found optimism in getting the bill passed in parliament," said a top Indian foreign ministry official.
The reason : West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerji seems to have agreed not to oppose the bill.
After her party lawmakers oppose the bill in the last parliament session, foreign minister Salman Khurshid touched base with Mamata Banerji who set up a three-member committee of her party to negotiate with the central government on the issue.
The committee headed by former railway minister Mukul Roy has belatedly assured the Indian government that the Trinamul will not oppose the introduction of the bill .
"They say they still have reservations about the bill but they will not oppose it . Even if they don't vote in support, the bill will go through anyway," said a top Congress leader.