India again reassures Bangladesh of settling Teesta water, border killing issues

The Indian government has once again assured Bangladesh of signing an agreement on sharing the water of the Teesta river and stopping the killings of Bangladeshis along the border.

It renewed the assurances during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s virtual summit with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday.

Hasina highlighted the need for the early signing of an interim agreement for sharing of the Teesta water, as agreed upon by both the governments in 2011, according to a joint statement.

Modi reiterated India’s “sincere commitment” and continued efforts of his government to strike a deal.

The signing of the agreement was halted during the then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh’s Dhaka visit in September 2011 due to objection raised by Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal.

The Modi government has been saying that they are trying to settle the issue, but Mamata has not changed her mind.

“We’ve told them (India) that we don’t want to embarrass them by raising it (Teesta) again, but it is a very important issue for Bangladesh,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters after the summit.  

“They have said that they are continuing discussions to involve all the sides on the Teesta issue,” he added.

Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, said they explained their position on the Teesta issue in the meeting. “We give the same importance to the settlement of the issue.”  

“Our prime minister said we are bound by the constitution to take all the sides on board,” he said.

The two leaders also underscored the need for early conclusion of Framework of Interim Agreement on sharing of waters of six joint rivers - Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar, according to the joint statement.

The statement also said both leaders agreed that loss of civilian lives at the border is a matter of concern.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi via video conferencing to witness the signing of seven framework agreements, protocols and memorandum of understanding on cooperation in seven sectors, including energy, social development and agriculture at the state guesthouse Padma in Dhaka on Thursday, Dec 17, 2020.

They directed the border forces -- India’s Border Security Force or BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh or BGB -- to enhance coordinate measures to work towards bringing such border incidents to zero, it added.

At least 42 Bangladeshis, mainly suspected cattle smugglers, died in BSF firing in the first 11 months of 2020, according to legal rights group Ain O Salish Kendra.

The rate of killings dropped in 2018, but increased three times after another year. As many as 158 Bangladeshis lost their lives along the border in the five years from 2015.

“This (border killings) frustrates us. But we believe we have done much progress through discussions. Today, the Indian prime minister again promised that they will use non-lethal weapons,” said Momen.

“And we want to believe them. We are always optimistic. We never want a single death at the border. Unfortunately, these incidents spoil our beautiful relations time and again. We don’t want this to happen,” he added.

Doraiswami said both sides agreed that they share the responsibilities in managing the borders. They also emphasised coordinated and joint patrol to supress crimes along the border.

India has promised that the BSF will show maximum restraint and use lethal weapons as the last resort for self-defence only, according to him.

Hasina expressed keen interest in the ongoing India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway project and sought New Delhi’s support for Bangladesh’s bid to connect with this project to enhance connectivity between the regions of South and South East Asia.

In the same spirit, the Indian side asked Bangladesh to allow connectivity from West Bengal to Meghalaya via Bangladesh.

Modi promised that vaccines would be made available to Bangladesh as and when they are produced in India.

India also offered collaboration in therapeutics and partnership in vaccine production.