Indian Parliamentary Committee recommends early resolution to Teesta water sharing

Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs in India unanimously recommended to the government to resolve pending Teesta water sharing issue at the earliest 'to improve the bilateral relation further' with Bangladesh.

The standing committee comprises of all parties’ lawmakers submitted the report on 'India's Neighborhood First Policy' in both the houses of the Parliament –Rajyasabha, upper house and Loksabha, lower house, on July 25.

P.P. Chaudhary, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs is from BJP.

Important member of the parliament like former Home Minister of Congress P Chidambaram, Abhishek Banerjee of TMC, BJP MP Swapan Dasgutpa and other 27 members of Parliament of Rajyasabha and Loksabha are the members of the committee.

The report contains a special chapter on the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh.

It says "The Committee are aware of the long outstanding issue between India and Bangladesh on sharing of Teesta River water and desire that this important issue be worked out at the earliest for improved bilateral relations with Bangladesh.

The Committee also urges the Ministry to initiate meaningful dialogues with Bangladesh on a regular basis to arrive at a consensus in the matter and the progress and outcome may be informed to the committee on the issue of pending disputes between India and Bangladesh and the fresh initiatives and meaningful dialogues proposed to be taken to resolve such disputes."

Regarding the Teesta Issue, the committee reiterated the position of India, saying it is committed to sign the agreement as and when there is consensus on this issue.

The Committee observed that apart from ongoing cooperation in areas such as connectivity, security, water-sharing and energy, cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, space cooperation, and new technologies have been identified as the areas for further strengthening of India’s relationship with Bangladesh under the Neighbourhood First Policy.

The committee expected that the government would come up with fresh mutually beneficial initiatives in these areas and implement the same for enhanced bilateral ties and growth and prosperity of both the countries.

In its report, the committee said "Bangladesh remains our largest trade partner in the region and we remain Bangladesh’s largest trade partner in Asia. In 2021-22, bilateral trade increased by 68% from USD 10.78bn to USD 18.14bn. Goods and people move between the two countries through a network of 36 land customs stations including 4 integrated check posts."

The committee took note of the fact that Prime Ministers of both countries have met 13 times since 2015.

It noted with satisfaction that there is active cooperation between various agencies of both countries working jointly to combat illicit drug trafficking, fake currency, human trafficking, and cooperate on police matters, anti-corruption activities, among others.

Mechanisms for the peaceful and cooperative management of the 4,096kms-long international border are also actively focused on border fencing, joint inspection of boundary pillars, joint boundary demarcation including of riverine boundaries, among others.