The proposed Teesta water agreement with Bangla-desh and the upcoming vis-it of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton to Kolkata topped the agenda when external affairs minister S.M. Krishna met West Bengal CM Mamata Ban-erjee here on Thursday.
The crucial Teesta water agreement to be signed by New Delhi and Dhaka last year was scuppered after Ms Banerjee’s opposed it. As for Ms Clinton’s visit to Kolkata en route to New Delhi from Dhaka, Washington is saying that the secretary of state is keen to meet a “dynamic” and “influential” leader.
It is also expected that Ms Clinton will discuss the business environment and investment opportunities in Bengal as well as the development the state has seen since the Trinamul Congress leader took over as CM last year. Even Bangladesh is expected to figure in the discussions, being Bengal’s next-door neighbour and one with whom it is seen as having synergies.
Mr Krishna’s meeting with the Trinamul Congress leader comes just three days ahead of the upcoming visit of the foreign minister of Bangladesh, Dipu Moni, to New Delhi. Dr Moni will be in India to co-chair the first meeting of the joint consultative commission along with Mr Krishna which is slated for May 7.
While no agreement on the sharing of the Teesta waters is expected during Dr Moni’s visit, a discussion on this is expected to be an important part of the commission’s meeting.
The decision to set up the joint consultative commission was announced in the joint statement issued following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in September last year. The commission, which is to meet once a year, is to “jointly coordinate and oversee the implementation of initiatives as well as to explore new avenues of cooperation, including progress of activities under the framework agreement.”
Dr Moni will also represent her country at the closing ceremony marking the culmination of the joint celebrations of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations. The Teesta agreement was to have been inked last year during the PM’s Dhaka visit in 2011. However, Ms Banerjee refused to give her assent to the signing of this agreement which both New Delhi and Dhaka are keen to ink.