Bangalore: An agreement on the long-standing
Teesta river water sharing issue between India and Bangladesh
was 'round the corner', External Affairs Minister SM Krishna
on Tuesday said.
"I think an agreement is round the corner," he told
reporters during the briefing on the 11th Ministers' meeting
of the Indian Ocean RIM Association of Regional Cooperation
(IOR-ARC) here.
Responding to a question, Krishna said he had a discussion
on the issue with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, here
to attend the meeting of the 19-member regional grouping.
Krishna said India hoped to come to a settlement on the
matter.
The two neighbours were scheduled to sign an agreement on
the Teesta issue during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit
to Bangladesh in September, but strong objections by West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the draft, prompted
India to back off at the last minute.
Banerjee had also pulled out of the Prime Minister's
entourage, casting a shadow on the historic visit.
During the SAARC summit in Maldives last week, Singh told
his Bangladesh counterpart Sheik Hasina that there was still
some need for consensus in the country on the issue and that
the interest of all concerned, including West Bengal, should
be taken care of.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 20:34