Special Correspondent :
The long-awaited India tour of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to take place in the first quarter of April, an official of Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in Dhaka on Thursday.
Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrived in Dhaka at about 2:20pm yesterday in a 20-hour visit with a view to fixing the date and taking preparations on other relating affairs about Hasina’s Delhi visit.
“S. Jaishankar met Bangladesh Prime Minister at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in the evening. During their meeting, the date and time of PM’s India tour was discussed. The PM is expected to visit Delhi in next April. The final date will be announced soon officially,” PM’s Deputy Press Secretary M Nazrul Islam said last night. During her visit, some key issues like second Padma Bridge are expected to be discussed. But most important Teesta Water Sharing and Ganges Barrage issues will not be put up on table due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, diplomatic sources said.
Indian Premier Narendra Damodardas Modi during his Dhaka visit in 2015 had offered invitation to Hasina for India tour. There was huge expectation that, the visit would be held in December last year. But it could not happen due to schedule problem of Indian side.
Another possibility was seen in February this year, which was also discussed during the visit of Indian State Minister for External Affairs MJ Akbar. At that time MJ Akbar also said that “the government and people of India were eagerly waiting for Hasina’s visit”. But it was also prolonged due to the same reason. On the other hand, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali earlier had said that the visit of Bangladesh PM to India is “important and sensitive”. Hasina, however, went to Goa of India in October last year to attend BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit. But it was not a bilateral visit.
MoFA officials told The New Nation yesterday that Indian FS also met Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque yesterday night. This time, PM Hasina is likely to stay at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official home of the President of India, located at Rajpath in New Delhi.
It will be first time to get such honour for any Bangladeshi head of government.
Meanwhile, the Teesta Water Sharing Treaty has posed high-importance for political future of ruling Awami League and for that reason Dhaka reportedly had persuaded Mamata Banarjee to withdraw her objection on equitable Teesta water sharing. Though the Modi administration is keen to sign the deal, Indian media have reported that Mamata Banerjee will not support it.
In fact, the Teesta deal has been facing obstacles since September 2011 when Mamata Banerjee had refused to accompany the then Indian PM Manmohan Singh to Dhaka opposing the same. Foreign Office sources said that Dhaka had earlier wanted to reduce the differences with Mamata but now it is creating pressure on Delhi to sign the treaty.
Dhaka also hoped that Modi government would take initiatives to solve the important bilateral issues, including the Teesta Water Sharing Treaty, at the earliest, while Hasina government has given full cooperation to Delhi.
The sideline talks between Hasina and Modi in Goa ahead of the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit had raised hope that the Teesta deal would be signed while Dhaka stood beside Delhi during the Uri terror attack.
At the same time, Dhaka also refused to join SAARC summit which was scheduled in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad in November last year. Dhaka has also finalized a bundle of draft agreements, one of which would allow India to use Chittagong and Mongla Ports, apart from land transit.
Indian media recently reported that Mamata Banerjee is now objecting to the Ganges Barrage Project proposed by Bangladesh.
West Bengal Chief Secretary Basudev Bandyopadhyay recently in a letter to the Indian government has made clear their position on the Ganges Barrage Project of Bangladesh. On behalf of Mamata Banerjee, the central government was informed that under no circumstances should Dhaka be allowed to construct a barrage on the Ganges.
The officials of Nabanna, West Bengal secretariat, also refused to take part in any discussion between the two countries on this topic, the Indian media reported.
