Bangladesh urges India to safeguard ties on Teesta water sharing

Bangladesh water resources minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee said on Sunday that Dhaka does not want its friendly ties with New Delhi to deteriorate over the long-pending Teesta water-sharing agreement. "A friend should protect the interests of a friend," Anee said at a seminar in Dhaka, urging India to consider Bangladesh's interests alongside its own. The minister's remarks come as Bangladesh pushes forward with the China-backed Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project to address floods, erosion, and dry-season shortages in five to six northern districts. Anee said the project is a major challenge and that failing to implement it will worsen the damage faced by local families.

The Teesta originates in the Himalayas and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh have discussed water-sharing since the 1980s, and an interim 1983 arrangement allocated 39% to India and 36% to Bangladesh. A 2011 draft interim agreement collapsed after West Bengal opposed it over concerns about water availability. Bangladesh prime minister Tarique Rahman secured China's commitment in June to speed up a technical feasibility study for the restoration project, which India views as strategically sensitive because the river lies near the Siliguri Corridor, India's land link to its northeastern states. The external affairs ministry said in July that India's position on the proposed project has been conveyed to Bangladesh and that all related developments will be considered as part of the overall approach to the Teesta issue.