Will take up Teesta water-sharing issue with Bangladesh PM: Mamata Banerjee

Keen to respond to Bangladesh's "expectations" from West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she has "solved" problems related to the ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement and asked this country to trust her on the Teesta water-sharing issue.

"Have trust on me on the Teesta issue...I will have talks on the matter with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," she said here at a luncheon meeting with litterateurs and cultural figures at a hotel.

"I am a small person, down to earth...from my side, I have solved the LBA problem...have trust on me on the Teesta issue too," Banerjee said.

"We (India) have problems, you have problems as well. I will talk to Hasinadi. Leave the (Teesta) issue to us. Don't worry about it," she said. Banerjee arrived here yesterday on a three-day visit, her first to Bangladesh since assuming office as the West Bengal Chief Minister in 2011, and will hold talks with top Bangladeshi leadership to boost ties.

Banerjee said she was keen to respond to Bangladesh's "expectations" from West Bengal.

She proposed a series of steps to cement the cultural bond between her state and Bangladesh, including the construction of a "Bangabandhu Bhaban", a building to be named after the country's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

"Political geography has divided us, but there is no division in our two minds," she said during her interaction with litterateurs and cultural figures. "Tell me all your expectations...we will respond to them in due time," she said.
On her arrival in Dhaka last night, she had said, "It appears I have come to my own country". Mamata said she carried with her the love for Bangladesh from Kolkata.

Banerjee is set to meet Hasina alongside President Abdul Hamid on Saturday. She will also meet Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on whose invitation she had come to Bangladesh. Ali will also host a high tea in her honour.

Bangladeshis welcomed Banerjee yesterday expecting her visit to expedite settlement of crucial pending matters like the Teesta issue and ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement since West Bengal has a major stake in the issues. Bangladesh and India were set to ink the Teesta Agreement during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit in 2011 but Mamata precluded herself from his entourage at the last minute opposing the treaty.

The Teesta deal was shelved as Mamata had objected to the proposed quantum of waters, saying it would harm her state.

Ahead of Mamata's arrival, state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam told reporters that Dhaka believed her visit would now create conducive environment to resolve the pending issues though "legally the bilateral issues are to be resolved by the central governments."

Several analysts have said her visit would be an 'icebreaker' in Dhaka's virtually strained relationship with Mamata as the trip is expected to make headway towards the ratification of the LBA, an issue over which the West Bengal Chief Minister has earlier expressed reservation.

The new Indian government had earlier said it seeking to reach an "internal consensus" on the Teesta deal. A bill was also pending in Rajya Sabha for ratifying the LBA.

Banerjee is leading a 39-member delegation with an aim of increasing trade and investment between West Bengal and Bangladesh.

The Teesta, which has its origin in Sikkim, flows through the northern part of West Bengal before entering Bangladesh and joining the Brahmaputra river. The river is crucial for Bangladesh in the leanest period from December to March when the water flow often temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusec from 5,000 cusec.

The Teesta water-sharing agreement has been in the talks since the Awami League government returned to power in 2009. Prime Minister Hasina had earlier criticised Banerjee for her "unfortunate" stance against the water sharing deal.

The last minute setback on the Teesta deal during Singh's September 2011 visit visibly prompted Dhaka to back off from inking a crucial transit deal at that time.
Riverine Bangladesh is criss-crossed by dozens of major rivers with 54 originating from India.

The two countries in 1996 had signed a landmark 30-year agreement on sharing of waters of the Ganges during Hasina's previous tenure as premier. Back then Deve Gowda was her counterpart in New Delhi and Jyoti Basu was the West Bengal chief minister. The deal ensured the minimum water flow in the Ganges River during the dry season.

Bangladesh and West Bengal share a common language and culture. Banerjee's visit coincides with the International Mother Language Day on February 21.

The West Bengal Chief Minister will join the Language Day ceremony at the midnight with the President and the Premier at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital.
They would place wreaths at the memorial paying tributes to 1952 language movement martyrs who laid down their lives, demanding Bangla to be the state language for being the mother tongue of majority population in the erstwhile East Pakistan.

Banerjee's delegation also includes a cultural troupe comprising celebrated signers and film stars from West Bengal.

She is expected to address a business event to be organised by the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Indian Chamber of Commerce.