Teesta pact runs into uncertainty after Mamata opts out

New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) The Teesta river water sharing
pact is unlikely to be signed during Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh on Tuesday from which
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has opted out,
indicating the disconnect between the Centre and the state on
the issue.
Giving the details of those accompanying the Prime
Minister, Foreign Secretary Ranajan Mithai did not mention the
name of eastern Indian state West Bengal's Chief Minister
while naming her counterparts from Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya
and Mizoram.
"The presence of four Chief Ministers underline the
importance of the Prime Minister's visit and one more Chief
Minister would have been useful," he said when asked if
Banerjee was not going with the Prime Minister.
Asked if her absence will result in India not signing the
Teesta accord, he said "in our federal scheme of things,
nothing is done or will be done without consulting the state
government or Bangladesh.
"Anything agreed between India and Bangladesh would have
to be acceptable to the state of West Bengal. We have been and
we will continue to consult the state," he said to a pointed
question on whether the crucial deal on the water-sharing of a
major river Teesta will be inked.
The deal on Teesta, which originates in Sikkim and flows
to Northern part of West Bengal before entering Bangladesh,
was a big-ticket item on the agenda of Prime Minister's two-
day visit but has now run into uncertainty following
Banerjee's reservations on inking the water-sharing pact.
However, the agreement on another common river Feni is
likely to be signed with Mathai noting that the final
discussions were "underway". Singh's visit is aimed at bringing about the "paradigm
shift" in the bilateral ties and enhance trade and
connectivity between the two neighbours, Mathai said.
This is first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister
after a gap of 12 years, he said.
In July 1999, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had gone to Dhaka to
inaugurate a bus service to Kolkata.
Mathai said a number of pacts and MoUs are expected to be
signed during the visit in the areas including trade, exchange
of adversely-held enclaves, water resources, border
management, connectivity, fisheries, culture, environment and
education.
He termed the proposed agreement on exchange of enclaves,
a legacy issue of pre-partition era, as a "very major
achievement and said "I don't think we have to look at this
issue in terms of loss or gain of territory" because it will
implement an accord signed between the two countries way back
in 1974.
India has 111 Bangladeshi enclaves in its territory while
50 Indian enclaves are located in Bangladesh. In terms of size
of land, Bangladesh is set to gain under exchange of enclaves.
Mathai said substantial progress has been made in
utilization of India's one billion dollar line of credit to
Bangladesh, announced during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's
visit to Delhi in January, 2010, as 20 projects worth 750
million dollars have already been agreed on between the two
sides.
A large number of these projects relate to road and rail
transport in Bangladesh, he added.