Last Updated on May 6, 2026 5:38 pm by BIZNAMA NEWS
Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Bangladesh’s ruling BNP has accused Mamata Banerjee of stalling the Teesta water-sharing agreement and congratulated the BJP on its West Bengal victory, saying the result could help strengthen ties between Bangladesh and the Indian state.
BNP information secretary Azizul Baree Helal praised the BJP’s performance under Suvendu Adhikari and said ties would continue positively. He said the change in power had opened the possibility of movement on the long-pending Teesta issue.
“Actually, previously we saw that Mamata Banerjee was actually the impediment to establishing the Teesta Barrage. Now, in my opinion, since the BJP won the election under Suvendu’s leadership, the Teesta Barrage agreement–which was very much desired by the Bangladesh government and the Modi government–will be helped by Suvendu. I think the Teesta Barrage project will be implemented under the BJP government now that they have seized power instead of the Trinamool Congress,” Helal told journalists.
He said despite ideological differences between the BNP and BJP, both sides were aligned on issues such as Teesta and broader Bangladesh-India ties.
Foreign minister Khalilur Rahman on Tuesday also said Bangladesh wanted the 2011 in-principle Teesta agreement to be reconsidered “under the current circumstances”. “Look, a government has not yet been formed in West Bengal, and what they think or what they will do is for them to say. It is not my job to read their minds,” he said when asked about Mamata’s ouster.
Referring to the 2011 understanding during Manmohan Singh’s tenure, Khalilur said, “We hope that the agreement reached at that time can be ‘considered’ again under the current circumstances.”
The Teesta pact has remained unresolved for years, with West Bengal opposing it over its own water needs. A 2011 proposal would have given Bangladesh 37.5% of Teesta waters and India 42.5%, but it did not go through after opposition from the state government. An earlier ad hoc arrangement in 1983 proposed 36% for Bangladesh, 39% for India and 25% to be decided later, but it was never fully implemented.
India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, but only the Ganga Waters Treaty and the Kushiyara River Treaty have been signed so far. Teesta and Feni remain under negotiation. The 1996 Ganga Treaty is also set to expire later this year.
Khalilur, speaking before leaving for Beijing, said he would discuss China’s proposed Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project with foreign minister Wang Yi. “Of course, Teesta will be discussed, absolutely. This is a matter of life and death for the people of that region,” he said.
On reports of “push in” from India, Khalilur said Bangladesh would respond firmly. “When the Chief Minister of Assam said similar things and admitted he had taken certain actions, you saw that we strongly protested. We will take whatever measures are necessary on that issue.”
Minister of state for foreign affairs Shama Obaid described the Bengal election as India’s “domestic development”, while BNP media cell member Shairul Kabir Khan hoped for positive movement in Dhaka-Delhi ties with the BJP heading both the central and Bengal governments. Commentators in Dhaka, however, have expressed concern over Suvendu Adhikari’s remarks on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and his earlier support for ousted PM Sheikh Hasina.