Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday (February 07, 2024) emphasised on early conclusion of Teesta water sharing agreement aiming to strengthen water cooperation between Bangladesh and India. He also stressed the renewal of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty that will expire in 2026. The issue of border killings was discussed during his bilateral meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House on his maiden bilateral trip to India as the foreign minister. Both sides agreed to enhanced cooperation between the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and the Border Security Force (BSF) and using non-lethal weapons to reduce border killing to zero. Foreign Minister Mahmud requested his Indian counterpart to withdraw tariff and non-tariff barriers for Bangladesh's exports, as well as ensure uninterrupted supply of essential commodities to Bangladesh for maintaining price stability, especially during Ramadan. Mahmud is visiting India from 6 to 9 February 2024 at the invitation of the External Affairs Minister of India. Our discussions today will strengthen Bangladesh-India Maitri, says Jaishankar welcoming FM in New DelhiThe two foreign ministers expressed satisfaction on the excellent bilateral relation that exists between Bangladesh and India. They discussed key areas of mutual interests, expressing a commitment to strengthening collaboration across various areas. They stressed the need for deeper and high quality cooperation in various sectors especially trade and commerce, connectivity, power, defence and security cooperation and water. Both the foreign ministers agreed to collaborate further each other at sub-regional, regional and multilateral platform.Mahmud thanked India for their cooperation and continued support in various sectors which resulted in a remarkable year of 2023 in the bilateral relations between the two countries. He noted that a number of projects in promoting power sector cooperation and establishing connectivity were inaugurated by the two prime ministers. Political stability, peace must for development and progress: Hasan Mahmud says in DelhiThe Indian External Affairs minister congratulated the Bangladesh Foreign Minister for conducting a very good and successful elections held last month. Dr Jaishankar emphasised on regional connectivity and power sector cooperation. He appreciated the government of Bangladesh under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for socio-economic advancement during last 15 years. The minister noted that Bangladesh and India should work together to fulfill the aspiration of the peoples of both countries. He stressed devising ways and means of fast tracking LoC projects.Both the foreign ministers discussed in details the evolving situation in Myanmar and its impact on the regional stability and repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar. Bangladesh’s foreign minister reiterated for India's support in the early repatriation of Rohingya refugees.Both the foreign ministers expressed commitment to further enhance their collaboration to promote sub-regional cooperation within the framework of BIMSTEC, IORA and BBIN. The foreign minister invited the External Affairs Minister of India to Dhaka for the next Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) Meeting at his earliest convenience.Earlier, Mahmud paid tribute to the memories of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat. He met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and visited Bangabandhu Media Centre at the Press Club of India. FM Hasan, Jaishankar discuss scope of future engagement in line with "Smart Bangladesh 2041" and "Viksit Bharat 2047"

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has reiterated the importance of signing Teesta water sharing agreement with India, saying it is “unfortunate” and “a shame” that the deal remains stuck for 11 years. "It is unfortunate that we could not get the Teesta water sharing deal through for 11 years. It's a shame, we were ready, they were ready, yet the deal is not done. In future there will be a big cry for water and we have to prepare for it," he told India’s NDTV in Guwahati. Also read: Momen meets Assam chief minister While talking to NDTV on the sidelines of the NADI Conclave held in Guwahati on May 28-29, Momen said the two countries share 54 rivers with India and they are keen on sharing and working together on joint management of all rivers. “Joint management is necessary for the wellbeing of people of both sides, the entire basin area.” The Teesta river originates in the Teesta Kangse glacier and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh. It has been mired in conflict since 1947 when the catchment areas of the Teesta were allotted to India. In 2011, India agreed to share 37.5 per cent of Teesta waters while retaining 42.5 per cent of the waters during the lean season between December and March. However, the deal never went through due to stiff opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, reports NDTV. "We are very optimistic that India would agree to go forward with the deal, even West Bengal will agree, and we will achieve it," he said. Moreover, constant building of dams along the Teesta in Sikkim has resulted in lean seasonal flow draining into Bangladesh, reads the report. "Assam, Bangladesh faced floods this year at the same time, we need to collaborate more with technology for water discharge, jointly develop early flood warning systems, and joint management of rivers is win-win for both countries," said Momen. There is a lot of media buzz that Bangladesh is discussing an almost $1 billion loan from China for a comprehensive management and restoration project on the Teesta river. The project is aimed at managing the river basin efficiently, controlling floods, and tackling the water crisis in summers. The foreign minister said, "We don't have a formal proposal from China on Teesta as yet, the one that China was proposing initially was a French project, designed by French engineers in 1989. It was expensive, at that time we could not manage funds. Now the Chinese are picking up one component of it, the Teesta project, but this I gather from media reports, they did not send us a proposal as of now. We have to see how it goes, because as of now India is not really doing much to resolve the Teesta water sharing issue, that's why they came up with a proposal, it's a lucrative proposal.” Also read:Momen, Jaishankar to inaugurate River Conclave in Guwahati Saturday In September 2016, the Bangladesh Water Development Board entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Powerchina or the Power Construction Corporation of China to carry out a technical study to better manage the Teesta for the benefit of northern Bangladesh's greater Rangpur region. "However, Teesta is an unresolved issue, so our people would naturally push the government to look into any fresh proposal, that may be the reason why the Chinese project on Teesta is so much talked about in the media," the foreign minister said.