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1994-05-02
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<text>
<title>
Reports, Comment on Water-Sharing Problem
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Joint Publications Research Service, June 19, 1991
Reports, Comment on Water-Sharing Problem: Bangladesh--Progress Made
</hdr>
<body>
<p>"Delhi Tells Dhaka to Forget Ganges", [Dhaka, The New Nation in
English, 29 Apr 91, pp. 1, 8].
</p>
<p> A couple of days before the latest round of water talks
between Bangladesh and India in Dhaka last Tuesday, a senior
official informally asked the Irrigation Secretary M.A. Malik
whether he was hoping for any kind of breakthrough during the
two-day negotiations.
</p>
<p> Given the complex nature and the history of water talks
between the two countries, there was perhaps no reason for the
Irrigation Secretary to be optimistic and he said so.
</p>
<p> Yet the meeting ended on Wednesday with Bangladesh claiming
"some progress." What it means is not quite clear. According to
press reports, the net outcome of the secretary-level talks
with an agreement on "attaching priority to sharing the flows
of the rivers Ganges and Teesta."
</p>
<p> A closer look at earlier negotiations reveals that the
latest agreement is just the repetition of what was already
agreed upon at the secretary-level talks held in Dhaka on June
21 last year.
</p>
<p> In fact the latest exercise was a futile one and it appears
that the entire efforts of Bangladesh were concentrated on
nullifying the agreement signed last October in Delhi.
</p>
<p> The October meeting decided that in addition to the Ganges
and the Teesta "immediate priority should be accorded to
Brahmaputra and Barak/Meghna, substituting the major flows in
the two countries so that sharing arrangements are word out
with a 20 to 25 years time perspective before the commencement
of the next dry season."
</p>
<p> The last agreement was against the interest of Bangladesh, a
member of the delegation said. It proves that Ershad was
desperate to win over India in an effort to get Delhi's support
to save his towering presidency from collapse. The October
meeting coincided with the beginning of the anti-Ershad
movement that finally swept him out of power last December.
</p>
<p> To persuade Delhi to agree to go back to the June, 1990
agreement was not altogether easy. During the marathon meeting
this time the point Dhaka emphasized was that the new,
democratic government in Bangladesh was not prepared to accept
the agreement signed by the Government of the fallen dictator in
his last days.
</p>
<p> "Happily, the Indian side accepted our argument," said the
delegation member, ostensibly "in deference to the peoples'
mandate given to the new government."
</p>
<p> Although the latest round of negotiations ended with a
positive note, the Indian side raised something during the
talks that gave Bangladesh a real cause for concern.
</p>
<p> New Delhi told Dhaka that it should look for alternative
sources for its water needs in the future as the flow in the
rivers "particularly the Ganges and the Teesta will be getting
reduced progressively due to ever increasing water utilization
for consumptive purpose." It can however, be replenished from
Brahmaputra waters, the Indian delegation suggested.
</p>
<p> In plain terms, it means that Bangladesh must include
Brahmapurta in the future talks on water sharing with India and
be mentally prepared to forget about the Ganges.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>