Teesta, access issue will be solved: Chidambaram
September 21st, 2011 - 10:40 pm ICT by IANS
Kolkata, Sep 21 (IANS) Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday said the unresolved Teesta river water sharing and the issue of access to India across Bangladesh will be solved given time, understanding and statesmanship.
“The Teesta water sharing issue is unresolved as is the issue of access to India across Bangladesh. But I am confident that given time, patience and understanding and the same level of statesmanship, those problems will be solved,” Chidambaram said during a programe of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce (BCC) here.
A miffed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee withdrew from the delegation accompanying the prime minister on his recent visit to Bangladesh in protest the proposed Teesta water accord that gave a greater share to the neighbouring nation than earlier agreed upon by the central government and the concerned states.
Her strong stand stalled the treaty, partly taking the shine off Manmohan Singh’s visit, the first to Dhaka by an Indian prime minister in 12 years. Bangladesh hit back by refusing to exchange letters of intent on providing transit facilities to each other.
“India and Bangladesh are poised for a very close relationship. We must seize the opportunity. We must not allow the moment to slip to forge a very good relationship with Bangladesh,” Chidmabaram said.
Stating that Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Bangladesh was a major effort to build relation with that country, he said: “We have to build strong relation with Bangladesh. In the last 40 years, the two countries have gone through a love-hate relationship. The two countries are bound to each other in many areas.”
Chidambaram said it was in mutual interest that India should help Bangladesh to become a strong and prosperous country.
“We cannot build a Berlin Wall between India and Bangladesh. We must build relations. The starting point of this exercise is to find solutions to the long-standing problems. Some of the problems should have been resolved years ago,” he said.
“Just a little give and just a little take, and we have been able to find solutions to the problem of undemarcated provinces,” Chidambaram said.
“I complement all the chief ministers of the border states for standing shoulder to shoulder with the government of India to solve the issue,” he added.
- Intensify efforts to find viable formula on Teesta: Manmohan - Sep 07, 2011
- Government working on fair, equitable Teesta deal: Krishna - Sep 08, 2011
- India, Bangladesh to sign extradition treaty soon: Envoy (Lead) - Jun 06, 2012
- Teesta pact will need national consensus: PM - Nov 13, 2011
- India to be more liberal to boost trade, solve water issue: Hasina - Jan 11, 2012
- Experts committee formed on Teesta: Mamata - Nov 16, 2011
- `Manmohan's trip to be turning point in Delhi-Dhaka ties' - Sep 05, 2011
- Bangladesh hopeful of soon clinching Teesta water accord - Apr 30, 2012
- India, Bangladesh set to seal enclaves deal - Aug 30, 2011
- Dhaka, Delhi to exchange Teesta river data - Sep 30, 2011
- A Bangladeshi invite for Mamata: Will she go? - Feb 20, 2012
- Bangladeshi diplomat confident about Teesta water pact - Dec 16, 2011
- Bangladesh hopeful of inking Teesta water accord with India (Lead) - Apr 30, 2012
- PM's Dhaka trip: Teesta pact unlikely - Sep 06, 2011
- Besides Teesta accord, Dhaka wants enclaves issue resolved - Jul 26, 2012
Tags: bcc, berlin wall, central government, chief minister, good relationship, indian prime minister, letters of intent, mamata banerjee, manmohan, manmohan singh, mutual interest, programe, prosperous country, river water, statesmanship, transit facilities, union home minister, water accord, water sharing, west bengal