Mamata talks Teesta, LBA

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee discussed the Teesta water-sharing deal and land boundary agreement with Bangladesh yesterday, a senior official said.

At the 20-minute one-to-one meeting between the two leaders, the current state of India-Bangladesh relations and the pending issues came up.

Mamata is understood to have apprised Modi of her talks with Bangladesh leadership, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during her visit to Dhaka last month.

However, there was no official word on the issues that figured in the Modi-Mamata meeting.

Ahead of her first meeting with Modi yesterday since assuming office about four years ago, Mamata on March 4 said she had told Modi that there was a need to improve India-Bangladesh ties.

She also told reporters in Kolkata that she had written separate letters to Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj about the outcome of her recent visit to Bangladesh. 

"After my recent visit to Bangladesh, I have apprised the PM and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of the details about the Teesta water issue and Indo-Bangla relations," Mamata had said.

"In my letter to the two leaders, I have also said that we need improved relations between the two countries," she said.

Mamata has already assured the Bangladeshi leadership that her party would back a constitution amendment bill Indian parliament has to pass to implement the land boundary agreement (LBA).

It is expected that the bill will be tabled in the ongoing budget session of parliament.

Modi is understood to be keen to go with the deliverables on Teesta and LBA when he visits Bangladesh possibly later this month to reinforce his South Asia outreach policy.

Modi is also reportedly trying to persuade Pawan Chamling, chief minister of Sikkim state where Teesta originates, to release more water to West Bengal and consequently Bangladesh so that a deal between the two countries can be facilitated.