Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to be part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's delegation to Bangladesh on June 6. Modi will embark on a two-day visit to Bangladesh with an aim to inject new momentum in the bilateral relationship by enhancing cooperation in connectivity, economic and other areas.
During the visit, part of his policy to deepen engagement with India's immediate neighbourhood, Modi will hold wide-ranging talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on the whole gamut of ties and ways to move forward further.
"The Chief Minister will go along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh next month. We hope this visit will strengthen relations between the two Bengals (West Bengal and Bangladesh) and also between the two countries," Education and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee said.
"Between two Bengals there are no differences. We speak the same language, both the countries have national anthems which are created by the same person (Rabindranath Tagore). We feel that the visit by the Prime Minister and Chief Minister will be in the interest of both the countries and also Bengal," Chatterjee said.
"The Prime Minister and Chief Minister will go together and I believe that Bengal's interests will not be compromised," the minister said, adding the people of both countries want good relations.
Asked if Banerjee has given her consent to the Teesta water sharing treaty, Chatterjee said, "I am not aware of it and I cannot comment on this matter."
Ties between India and Bangladesh are on an upswing ever since Hasina government came to power in January, 2009.
Modi will be visiting at the invitation of Hasina who had extended the gesture through telephonic talk and writing a letter soon after Modi had led Bharatiya Janata Party to a landslide win in Lok Sabha elections in May 2014.
Thereafter, the two leaders had met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York in September 2014 year and then again on the margin of SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in November the same year.
Earlier this month, Parliament had passed a historic Constitution Amendment Bill seeking to settle India's 41-year-old border issue with Bangladesh. The bill will operationalise the 1974 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary
agreement that provides for exchange of 161 enclaves adversely-held by the the two countries.
"This visit, Prime Minister's first to Bangladesh, reflects the importance attached by India to the bilateral relationship.
"The visit is expected to further expand the cordial and cooperative relationship between the two countries and strengthen the ties of friendship and trust between India and Bangladesh," the External Affairs Ministry said.
Ahead of Modi's visit to Dhaka, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Kolkata that India and Bangladesh would soon approve the long-pending Teesta river water-sharing agreement.
"Both the countries will give their approval to it very soon. We are hopeful that we will get full cooperation from West Bengal government", Singh said.
Last week, Bangladesh had hoped that the pact will be inked during Modi's trip.
The Teesta deal was set to be inked during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September 2011 but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by Mamata Banerjee.
The Teesta water is crucial for Bangladesh, especially in the leanest period from December to March when the water flow often temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusecs from 5,000 cusecs every year.
Modi's programme also include a meeting with Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid.
In March, 2013, President Pranab Mukherjee had paid a visit to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is an important trading partner for India. The two-way trade in 2012-2013 was $5.34 billion with India's exports to Bangladesh accounting for $4.776 billion and imports $0.564 million.
(With additional information from PTI)
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