New Delhi, Sept 30: Differences tonight cropped up between India and Bangladesh forcing delay in conclusion of the ministerial-level meeting of joint rivers commission here. After the delegation-level talks in the morning, Water Resources Minister Arjun Charan Sethi held one-to-one discussions with his Bangladesh counterpart Hafizuddin Ahmed for several hours on the second and final of the two-day JRC meet.

India has opposed Bangladesh's demand for including the ambitious inter-linking of rivers project in the agenda of the JRC and dismissed as "imaginary" Dhaka's fear that the scheme would have adverse effects on the neighbouring country.

India argues that the project was still at a conceptual stage and there was no need for Bangladesh to make an issue out of it.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, feels if its concern over the project was not acknowledged right now, it could be served with a "fait accompli" once it is implemented.
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Bureau Report