India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a long-overdue, much-anticipated trip to Dhaka on September 6. But West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to repudiate the interim Teesta and Feni water-sharing agreement undercut the larger national interest of building a relationship of greater trust with Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government, however, reacted maturely in salvaging the maximum from the occasion.
Gateway House hosted a luncheon with the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, Tariq Ahmad Karim, on Monday, 26th September 2011, to discuss the implications of the agreements signed during the visit, and its long-term impact on the Indo-Bangladesh relationship.
High Commissioner Karim returned to India after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Dhaka, and discussed the prospects of Indo-Bangladesh economic relations. India and Bangladesh can now explore new prospects, like maritime boundary agreements, oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal, and conserving the Sundarbans.