Jaishankar visit revives Dhaka hopes on Teesta

Dhaka, March 2

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar today held “constructive” talks with Bangladesh’s top leadership as he arrived here on his SAARC Yatra to strengthen India’s relations with members of the grouping.

“We had a very successful and constructive meeting... we want more cooperation,” he told reporters after talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Shahidul Haque and subsequent meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali.

At a separate media briefing later, Haque said the “goodwill visit”, Jaishankar’s first since his appointment last month, yielded “deeper and wider aspects of bilateral, regional and sub-regional relations. Asked if the outstanding Teesta water-sharing issue featured in their talks, Haque said: “We reiterated our concerns and his response was positive.” He, however, said issues related to Bangla-India relations were wide and could not be discussed in detail during brief visits.

“But we both agreed that the two countries had a good relationship that will have to be taken to new heights,” Haque said.

Replying to a question on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected Bangladesh visit, Haque said: “We expect him to visit Bangladesh soon...but I can’t predict any particular date.”

Bangladesh expects Modi’s visit to take place as soon as the long-pending Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) is ratified by Indian Parliament, enabling the two countries to swap the enclaves in each other’s territories and reach a consensus on the Teesta issue. — PTI