Teesta failure overshadows achievements

Observes cabinet

12 September 2011, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

The weekly cabinet yesterday observed that the achievements of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit were overshadowed by the failure to sign the Teesta river water deal. Presided over by Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina, the cabinet elaborately discussed Manmohan's two-day visit to Dhaka and its outcomes. “The cabinet members, including the prime minister believes that Bangladesh achieved a lot from the trip,” a senior minister said after the meeting, held at the cabinet division of the Secretariat. The PM said the deal will be signed soon, he said. The crucial achievement was the protocol to the 1974 Mujib-India Land Boundary Agreement, he said, adding that resolving the long-standing border and boundary-related problems would now be possible through the protocol's ratification by the two neighbours. Meanwhile, the cabinet outright rejected the health ministry's amendment proposal of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Act, 1998. BSMMU authorities took the initiative to introduce MBBS course in the university curriculum and the proposal was endorsed by the health ministry. “The prime minister outright rejected the proposal saying that introduction of MBBS programme would hamper the research environment at the university,” said press secretary to the PM Abul Kalam Azad while briefing reporters later.