Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Friday morning called on the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, and underscored the need for the early resolution of the outstanding issues, a ministry press release on Friday night said. The Foreign Minister also apprised the Indian Prime Minister of the progress made in the bilateral relations between Dhaka and New Delhi. The release, however, did not spell out the outstanding issues nor did it state what the response of the Indian Prime Minister was.
Dr Dipu Moni also called on Indian Opposition Leader at Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley at the Parliament House, said
the statement without providing any detail.
The visiting Foreign Minister is scheduled to meet her Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid later this evening.
Agency reports add: Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has said Bangladesh is keen to settle the outstanding land boundary issues with India and looks forward to the passage of a bill that India’s ruling UPA coalition is going to place in Parliament’s monsoon session beginning Aug 5.
Singh, however, did not make any specific commitment on the stalled agreement for sharing of water of Teesta, but noted that water of the common river continued to flow from India to Bangladesh, even as New Delhi is trying to evolve “national consensus” on the issue. He also reassured Moni that India would not make any move detrimental to the interests of Bangladesh with regard to utilisation of shared water resources.
The bill is needed to be pushed through to operationalise the agreement already signed between India and Bangladesh.
“I am sure all parties in India will see the merit in solving the outstanding boundary issues which have lingered long enough,” Moni told journalists in New Delhi on Friday.
“If this bill does not go through and if the Teesta water-sharing deal is not signed, they will surely become important issues in the rundown to parliament elections in my country,” Moni said, hinting at the obvious discomfort of the ruling Awami league with such a scenario.
The Teesta water-sharing treaty has been kept ready by the Indian government but stiff opposition by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerji has prevented New Delhi from going ahead with it.
“People when they vote will take it into account. It will happen,” she said about the land boundary and the Teesta issues, hours before her meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid and opposition BJP’s leader in Rajya Sabha (Upper House) Arun jaitley.
The Congress-led UPA does not have two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill to operationalise the land boundary deal and would need the BJP’s support to clear the hurdle.
During the meeting with Jaitley, Dipu Moni discussed the Indo-Bangla land boundary agreement but is understood to have failed to elicit any commitment from BJP to support the exchange of enclaves between the two countries.
Sources said BJP told Dipu Moni that the North-East region and the Indo-Bangla border area is a sensitive region and the party cannot make any promises without looking into the details, reports the Business Standard.
The main opposition has reportedly conveyed to Moni that BJP will discuss the issue within the party forum before taking any decision on the matter.
The Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh is stuck due to a lack of political consensus in Delhi. BJP is of the view that India is giving away too much territory to the neighbouring country.
A constitution amendment Bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament on the issue in the coming monsoon session ratify the LBA.
BJP, along with AGP, had thwarted a government attempt during the last budget session to move the Bill seeking ratification of the agreement.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim and officials of Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at the meetings. Dipu Moni reached New Delhi on Thursday on a three-day visit.
Sources said Dipu Moni wanted to know whether Indian Parliament will be able to pass a Constitutional Amendment Bill in its session, beginning Monday. The Bill, if passed, will put the final seal of approval on the settlement negotiated by the two countries during the tenure of the Awami League led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The introduction of the Bill, which requires two-thirds of members present to vote in favour, therefore needs bipartisan support. It was stalled in the Rajya Saha during the last session following Opposition protests.
At a public engagement in New Delhi, Dipu Moni expressed Bangladesh’s desire to settle the outstanding land boundary issues with India and said it would be an election issue in her country along with the Teesta Treaty, which could not be signed due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
In the past, differences over the outstanding issues led to armed skirmishes, killings and undocumented immigration, causing bad blood between the two countries.
Moni said unresolved territorial issues lead to border tensions and even skirmishes and that causes bad blood between the two neighbours.
A senior official at India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Bangladesh’s politicians and media were “understanding” of India’s failure to honour its commitments, partly because of the progress made in bilateral relations.
But when told that failure to get these treaties implemented would harm the Awami League in the forthcoming polls, the official said:” We can only make our best efforts. It is up to the political parties to understand how much we have at stake in Bangladesh.”
Moni called for a common Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basin Regime among Bangladesh, India and other neighbours.
Bangladesh had first proposed the idea early last year.
India was initially lukewarm to the proposal and has since warmed up to the idea. The basin regime would include all countries such as Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and China — from the upper reaches to the Bay of Bengal.
A “Basin regime,” Moni suggested, would enable a holistic approach rather than a case-by-case approach to cross-border rivers.
The concept could also include joint undertakings in the sea-regime including the sea bed. But the basin regime concept does not preclude bilateral arrangements with India nor does it undermine the global order.
She called for a new paradigm of governance in South Asia, especially between India and Bangladesh.
“The new paradigm will usher in a new plateau for new undertakings which were not possible either before 1947 or 1971 or even before the present new era of confidence, nexus, and trust which we now share amongst ourselves,” she said.
The Foreign Minister said the paradigm will help address competing regional issues beyond Indo-Bangladesh bilateral concerns.
“To our advantage, our present dispensation is already marked by the restoration of the glorious bonds which existed at the time of the creation of Bangladesh.”
The Framework for Cooperation, that has been recently adopted, signifies the establishment of a New Bilateral Order between the governments and the people of India and Bangladesh, she said.
-With The Independent input
