Yunus calls for resolving Teesta issues with India

Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has said the interim government would pursue with India ways to resolve the differences over the long-pending Teesta water sharing treaty, as delaying it for years serves no purpose for either nation.

Yunus stated that the water-sharing issue between the two countries must be resolved according to international norms, emphasising that lower riparian countries like Bangladesh have specific rights that they seek to uphold. “By sitting over this issue (water sharing), it is not serving any purpose. If I know how much water I will get, even if I am not happy and sign it, it would be better. This issue has to be resolved,” he said. “Push is a big word; I am not saying it. We will pursue it. But we have to sit together and resolve it,” he said.

India and Bangladesh were set to sign a deal on Teesta water sharing during then-PM Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in 2011, but West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee declined to endorse it, citing a scarcity of water in her state.