Mamata’s Intractable Opposition Nixes Efforts For A Pact. Bangladesh could be ready to revisit the Teesta water treaty’s terms as the ruling Awami League faces growing political heat but Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee’s intractable opposition is stalemating all efforts to ink the pact.

With power in India shifting to the states due to an increasingly weak central government, secretary of state Hillary Clinton chose Kolkata as the first stop of her India tour to advance US foreign-policy interests. In a televised interview before meeting with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Clinton pushed for India permitting foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and for an “amicable” water-sharing arrangement with Bangladesh on the Teesta River — issues stalled by Banerjee’s opposition.

New Delhi: India-Bangladesh relations “will take a huge hit”, if India cannot deliver on the Teesta agreement, says Dipu Moni, foreign minister of Bangladesh. In an exclusive conversation with ToI, Moni, who is in India for the first joint consultative committee meeting with foreign minister S M Krishna, said, “on Teesta there is a huge expectation in Bangladesh. I think if India cannot deliver on that expectation, our relations will take a huge hit. I'm not sure our relationship can afford it. I believe people's representatives understand this. They will do what is right.

New Delhi: India is still trying to build a “political consensus” over the issue of Teesta water-sharing pact with Bangladesh. The first joint consultative commission meeting, co-chaired by foreign minister S M Krishna and his Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni, on Monday saw Dhaka insisting on early signing of the pact, which has remained hostage to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s recalcitrance.

Singh Dwells On Need To Engage Tehran
New Delhi/Kolkata: India wants Iran to fulfill international obligations with regard to its nuclear programme, but New Delhi cannot lose sight of its energy security needs, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a wide-ranging discussion in the capital on Monday.

India on Monday assured Bangladesh that the government was working “very hard” to develop “political consensus” on two bilateral agreements — the Teesta water-sharing treaty and the land boundary pact — but did not commit to a time-frame, sources told The Indian Express on Monday. A worried Bangladesh government has been pressing for an early signing of the Teesta water-sharing pact, since it is a very emotive issue in the country. And the Sheikh Hasina government has also requested New Delhi to ratify the land boundary agreement in Parliament that was signed in September 2011.

The US has agreed to treat West Bengal as a partner state for investment in the changed political situation, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here today. "They will invest in West Bengal which could not take place due to the political situation in the past," Banerjee told reporters after a 52-minute meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Environmentalists yesterday demanded the government's immediate and firm steps to stop India's National River Linking Project for the sake of Bangladesh's existence.

They were addressing a rally organised by Green Voice, an organisation of young environmentalists, marking its seventh anniversary and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Bangladesh from May 5 to 6, before the capital's Jatiya Press Club.

The UPA Government, which had earlier faced a major embarrassment from its ally Trinamool Congress on the Teesta water agreement, has renewed efforts to convince Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to sign the pact with Bangladesh on grounds that it is beneficial to both countries.

Teesta water sharing, ratification of land boundary agreement and early signing of an extradition treaty would dominate talks between India and Bangladesh at the first Joint Commission meeting likely to be held in May.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni would lead Bangladesh delegation to New Delhi for the first meeting of the new mechanism formed to oversee implementation of initiatives as well as explore ways for cooperation, including progress of activities under the Framework Agreement signed in Dhaka last year.