Seeking to remove the dent in Indo-Bangla ties caused by the last-minute deferring of the Teesta water-sharing deal, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today said he has asked officials to intensify efforts to find a “viable” formula to resolve the issue.
Wrapping up his two-day stay here, Dr Singh also sought to assuage Bangladesh's concerns on bilateral trade imbalance and announced quota-free access to Indian market for 46 Bangladeshi textile products for which he had unveiled duty-free entry facility just yesterday.
He responded to another persistent concern in Bangladesh over the proposed Tipaimukh irrigation project in Arunachal Pradesh, assuring Dhaka that India would not take steps that will adversely affect its eastern neighbour. Dr Singh said he was hopeful that during his visit to Dhaka.
“We would be able to come to an agreement on the sharing of the waters of the Teesta River. Both sides worked very hard to arrive at a solution that would be acceptable to all.” “Unfortunately, these efforts did not meet with success within the time available,” the Prime Minister said addressing a gathering of intellectuals at Dhaka University.
He, however, said he has asked the concerned officials to intensify their efforts “towards finding a viable formula which does not cause undue distress to all those in India or Bangladesh who are dependent on the flows of the river.”
Pointing out that “water is a sensitive subject in both our countries,” Dr Singh said “but we have shown that, in a spirit of friendship and mutual accommodation, we can agree on cooperative arrangements based on the principles of equity, fair play and no harm to either party.