Dhaka: Bangladesh is looking forward to a new beginning with the first visit of India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Teesta river waters sharing agreement, ratification of Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), and bilateral trade and transit with Nepal and Bhutan will be the focus of the Sushma-Hasina parleys.
The judgment on the maritime boundary delimitation case between Bangladesh and India will be delivered on July 2 at The Hague in Netherlands, which will also get priority during the talks. Â
Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran has made it clear that nothing will change as the Narendra Modi government is committed to building and maintaining the momentum of the relations. The approach would “largely focus on problem solving,†he added.
Sushma Swaraj is visiting Dhaka for two days beginning at June 25.
To resolve the Teesta waters sharing agreement, the spadework has started and “you will soon see results,” said a foreign office official.
Unconfirmed reports indicate Prime Minister Modi has got Sikkim’s state government to ensure greater availability of waters on the Teesta and is now seeking to persuade West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to agree to the agreement.
India is seeking greater connectivity with its North-Eastern states through Bangladesh territory. Delhi wants transit as well as corridor for Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya states.
The much-delayed Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh is ready for ratification. “For formalising the LBA, India will ask Bangladesh to open the Tetulia (Panchagargh district) corridor for better connectivity between North-East and rest of India. It will facilitate movement of goods and people to the North-East,” a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.
‘Tetulia’ is a 4-km corridor in Bangladesh which can reduce the road travel to and from northeast by over 85 km. While India had opened the ‘Tinbigha’ corridor for use by Bangladesh, Dhaka has not yet allowed passage to India through ‘Tetulia’.
In a significant move this week, Dhaka has decided to allow New Delhi to ferry food grains to the landlocked North-Eastern states of India using Bangladesh’s territory and infrastructure. But India won’t have to pay any charges for this transit facility.
Diplomatic sources said following requests from the Indian government, Dhaka has agreed to transport 10,000 tonnes of food grains as relief material for Tripura state through its river and road territory under a special transit facility in the first phase.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) will send rice and wheat from Andhra Pradesh to Tripura using the Ashuganj river port in eastern Bangladesh and the roadways leading to the state.
According to sources, the transportation is likely to take two weeks and if the “experiment works well”, the process will continue for eight months. The first consignment is expected reach at Agartala via Bangladesh in the second week of July.