Accord on water sharing of 7 rivers but Teesta to be signed

Bangladesh and India are likely to sign nine instruments including a framework agreement on the sharing of water of seven common rivers, setting a framework for cooperation in the energy and power sector, coastal use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports, implementation of the Indian Lines of Credit (LoCs) to Bangladesh during a virtual summit of the prime ministers of the two countries tomorrow (Thursday).    Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would lead the Bangladesh delegation in the talks from her official residence Ganabhaban at about 11:30 am and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi is set to lead the Indian delegation in the meeting virtually from New Delhi.   
"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi will hold 'comprehensive discussions' on the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship during their virtual summit on Thursday.....will discuss ways to further strengthen cooperation in the post-Covid-19 era, Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
However, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh will raise all the big issues, including water and border, during the virtual summit.
Talking to journalists at his office on Sunday he said a number of 'quick-impact' projects would also be inaugurated. He did not mention about Teesta deal issue.
"Three agreements would be signed during the meeting including a Costal Surveillance System, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on the use of Chattogram and Mongla ports for movement of goods to and from India, on withdrawal of 1.82 cusec of water from Feni River by India for supplying to Sabroom town in Tripura, India. India wants to finalised the above projects which are now called Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)," a senior official of the Foreign Ministry said.
'There is a possibility of signing a memorandum of understanding on a framework for cooperation in energy and power sector. these are implementing the transmission projects for Rooppur to facilitate power transmission from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) with financial support from the Indian Line of Credit (LoC), these are 464km 400kV transmission lines including 13-km river crossing, 205km 230kV transmission lines including 7-km river crossing, 400kv five bay extensions, 230kv four bay extensions and qualitative upgradation of the Bangladesh power system for frequency control and frequency drop protection, protection system, emergency control system and other associated tasks, 129.5-km-long India-Bangladesh Friendship Oil Pipeline construction work at the virtual meeting," the Foreign Ministry official said.
Provisions for human resource development in the nuclear power project for capacity building including training provisions for holding joint study and technology transfer are likely to be part of the agreement, he added.
 "The water issues would come up in the talks but signing of agreements on the matter is highly unlikely this time," a senior Bangladesh official said on Friday evening.  
The two sides have also been engaged in protracted negotiations on a framework for various aspects of the sharing water of seven other common rivers - Feni, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar.
A Foreign Ministry source said Bangladesh side will focus on removing tariff and non-tariff barriers on export to its next-door neighbour and the improvement of border management with the implementation of decisions made at the highest level to stop border killing, among others.
India is likely to focus on expeditious implementation of the projects and decisions under the lines of credits, defence cooperation and a permanent mechanism for the withdrawal of more water than the agreed 1.82 cusec limit from the River Feni, officials added.
The two sides were also working on drafts of several other instruments on high impact community development projects, cooperation among the staff colleges of the armed forces, museums and national cadet corps of the two countries.
The two prime ministers are also set to reopen a rail route connecting Halidari in West Bengal of India and Chilahati under Nilphamari district of Bangladesh after a gap of 55 years, officials said.
This rail link was snapped during the India-Pakistan war in 1965.
Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit Bangladesh on March 17, but the tour was postponed amid the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
To strengthen multifaceted cooperation which covered the mid-career training of 1,800 Bangladeshi government employees, cooperation between AYUSH and the Bangladesh Health Ministry in the field of medicinal plants, cooperation between the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and cooperation with the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority to facilitate investments in an Indian economic zone in Mongla.