Foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Wednesday said that Bangladesh and China were set to renew the memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries on the sharing of hydrological data on the River Brahmaputra during the flood season and the renewal of the MoU would pave the way for reopening talks on the Teesta project during his forthcoming visit to China.
鈥榃e are going to renew the MoU we have with China relating river management as it has already expired. This is a guiding principle and so the renewal of the MoU would make ways for discussion on river management,鈥� he said, while briefing reporters on his first bilateral visit to China from January 20 to January 24 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart after the formation of the interim government in August 2024.
The adviser also said that they would also request Beijing for its role in creating a congenial atmosphere in Myanmar for a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis so that over 11 lakh forcibly displaced people sheltered in Bangladesh camps could be sent to their homeland.
He, however, said that Bangladesh side would request China to lower loan interest rates and extend repayment terms to 30 years in general from different terms and would discuss Beijing鈥檚 commitment for budget support.
Touhid said that Bangladesh鈥檚 relation with large countries like India, China and the United States was crucial and so it would maintain balance regarding the relationship with these countries.
During the regime of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, India in May past year expressed its willingness to support a mega development project on the trans-boundary River Teesta inside Bangladesh, where China had already shown its interest and completed a survey there, which led the negotiation to a stalemate.
Asked whether they would discuss the much-talked about Teesta project that became uncertain as India had expressed its willingness to support the project on the trans-boundary river, Touhid, also a retired diplomat, said that the renewal of the MoU, which was a guiding principle for them, would pave the way for discussion over river management issues.
鈥榃e will discuss all issues keeping in view our own interests,鈥� he said, adding that his visit would focus on economic cooperation, commerce and trade expansion as China was the largest trading partner of Bangladesh.
Later, in June 2024, India announced that it would send a technical team to Bangladesh to discuss 鈥榗onservation and management of the Teesta River in Bangladesh鈥� as the bilateral talks between Hasina and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, then her Indian counterpart, ended in New Delhi without any breakthrough in the long pending water sharing deal on the common river.
New Delhi has long been foot-dragging on the Teesta water-sharing treaty with Dhaka, adversely affecting the lives and livelihoods of the people in the Rangpur region.
Originating in Sikkim in India and entering Bangladesh through Lalmonirhat, the 315-kilometre-long Teesta travels more than 150 kilometres through half a dozen other districts, including Rangpur, Gaibandha, Nilphamari and Kurigram, before merging with the River Jamuna at Fulchhari.