DHAKASA Senior Bangladesh Foreign Ministry official said the public ‘outcry towards India in Bangladesh ‘Will increase if New Delhi fails to ‘agree on a permanent water sharing ‘arrangement with Dhaka soon. “There is bitter hostility towards India on account of the Ganges dispute ‘and this will increase if the new commitment on the part of New Delhi to Teach a Longterm agreement on water sharing is not translated into a reality,” said Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Farooq Sobhan Sobhan was referring to a commitment reportedly made by Indian Foreign Secretary Salman Haider during formal talks in Dhaka which was reciprocated by Bangladesh officials, But at a news conference at the end of the two-day talks, Haider declined to give a time frames to when a permanent sharing arrangement would start. Both countries also agreed to reconyene the Joint Rivers Commission soon to monitor the lean season water flow common to both the countries. “We remain strongly committed to resolve this matter (water issue) once ‘and for all, but I cannot give a timeframe at the moment,” Haider was quoted as saying by the official Bangladesh News Agency BSS, The Indian Foreign Secretary had three rounds of talks with his Bangladesh ‘counterpart in the last week.
Sobhan said at a separatist Press conference that he saw some “useful developments” in bilateral relations, beheaded that there was a long and difficult road ahead. Sobhan also ruled court the possibility of an early solution Of the Ganges dispute India’s the subject of criticism in the Bangladesh media for allegedly turning off water in the lean season (March April) at a barrage across the border using the diverted water to flush out the Calcutta part.
AS the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries met for the third time ‘crowds outside the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka shouted anti-Indian slogans and pelted stones. Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the demonstrators.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 30, 1995
