Former foreign minister Anisul Islam Mahmud has said it was Bangladesh that proposed the controversial Tipaimukh dam in 1988 to control flooding.
'No dam', Singh tells Hasina
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told Sheikh Hasina that India will not build the Tipaimukh Dam, according to at least two members of the Bangladesh PM's entourage during her tour of India last week.
Published : 17 Jan 2010, 03:55 AM
Updated : 17 Jan 2010, 03:55 AM
Dhaka, January 17 (bdnews24.com) — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told Sheikh Hasina that India will not build the Tipaimukh Dam, according to at least two members of the Bangladesh PM's entourage during her tour of India last week.
The assurance, according to the two sources, came when the two prime ministers met at the official dinner at the Hyderabad House after their formal meeting on the second day of her Jan 10-13 visit.
Speaking anonymously to bdnews24.com, the two, who claimed knowledge of what transpired during the dinner when the heads of the government sat side by side, did not however explain why the New Delhi decision had not been made public.
Neither the joint communiqué issued at the conclusion of Hasina's India tour, nor the PM's public statements have so far alluded to such an assurance over the sensitive issue.
Even on Jan 16, during her press conference, like several previous occasions, Hasina said the Indian prime minister had reassured her regarding Tipaimukh Dam that India would not do anything harmful to Bangladesh's interests.
The joint communiqué states in paragraph 31: "The Prime Minister of India reiterated the assurance that India would not take steps on the Tipaimukh project that would adversely impact Bangladesh."
At one point during her press conference on Saturday, the prime minister, in reply to a question from editors and heads of media outlets, referring to the volume of rhetoric and extent of controversy over Tipaimukh, laughingly said, "Even I don't know what is going on in Tipaimukh."
The two countries struck three deals during Hasina's tour–mutual legal assistance on criminal matters, extradition of sentenced persons and combating terrorism, organised crime and illicit drug trafficking. MoUs were also signed on power purchase and cultural cooperation such as joint programmes celebrating Tagore's 150th birthday.
The planned Tipaimukh Dam, 390 metres long and 162.8 metres high, is proposed just 100km from the Bangladesh border on the River Barak in the Indian state of Manipur.
Experts hold that this dam could affect water flow of Surma and Kushiyara rivers in Bangladesh. Besides, the project is also likely to adversely impact some 60,000 inhabitants of Manipur.
Rights groups have campaigned against the proposed dam for long and over the last year, BNP and other political parties have tried to cash in on the issue.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, on Sunday afternoon, is expected to give a strong rebuttal of the prime minister's claims on the India tour including that on Tipaimukh Dam.
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