Bangladesh will ‘forcefully’ advocate for its ‘just demands’ on Teesta waters: says interim water, environment adviser

Bangladesh seeks international help to resolve Teesta waters dispute with India, emphasizing rights of its people.

Bangladesh may consider approaching an international platform for resolving the Teesta waters dispute, the new interim government’s adviser on water, forest, environment and climate change Syeda Rizwana Hasan said on Wednesday.

Referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s assertive stance on the Teesta, Ms. Hasan said the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus would take up the issues related to shared rivers between the two countries “forcefully”.

“We will not back down from presenting the rights of Bangladesh on the waters of the Teesta. You must have seen that in India, Mamata Banerjee says that she will not give us water while depriving her own people. So we will bring up the aspirations of our people living along the banks of the Teesta to the table,” Ms. Hasan said at a press interaction in the secretariat.

Ms. Hasan has been one of Bangladesh’s biggest champions for the environment and water resources, for which she won the 2012 Magsaysay award. She announced that Bangladesh’s new government would hold a dialogue with New Delhi regarding the shared rivers, including the Teesta. “The Joint River Commission has been negotiating on the Teesta waters but this time we will include the people who live along the Teesta in Bangladesh,” she promised.

“Whether we will get the water or not is not in our hands but we will have to speak about the issue always. This we will convey very clearly to India,” said Ms. Hasan, noting that Bangladesh has agreements with India on shared rivers such as the Kushiyara and Feni. She added that Dhaka and New Delhi will have to negotiate the renewal of their 1996 Ganga water sharing agreement, which was concluded during the now-ousted Sheikh Hasina’s first tenure as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The Kushiyara agreement was signed in September 2022, when Ms. Hasina had visited New Delhi, finalising the first agreement on shared rivers since the 1996 Ganga agreement.

The Teesta negotiations, however, did not make any progress during Ms. Hasina’s latest 15-year tenure that ended on August 5, when her government was toppled by a massive public movement.

Discussing her ‘mandate’ to look after Bangladesh’s interests with regard to the shared rivers, Ms. Hasan said, “We will maintain friendly relations with India but we will present our claims and demands forcefully and may even approach international platforms to speak about our just demands.” She pointed out that Bangladesh has received invitations to discuss water-related matters from multiple countries, including from China. “Wherever we feel necessary, we will send our interlocutor,” Ms. Hasan said.