Acknowledging the need of Bangladesh for water, Mamata Banerjee said water of other rivers which are also flowing into across the border can be shared.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and explained the difficulties in sharing the Teesta river water with the neighbouring country. Instead, she suggested, water of other small rivers which also flow into Bangladesh can be shared. Banerjee, who had earlier met Hasina at Hyderabad House, met her for the second time at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the evening here.
She told Hasina that there was not adequate water in the Teesta river which can be shared with Bangladesh, according to a close aide of Banerjee. She stressed upon the fact that West Bengal needs water for irrigation and drinking purposes and pointed out that during the summer Teesta becomes almost becomes dry.
Acknowledging the need of Bangladesh for water, Banerjee said water of other rivers which are also flowing into across the border can be shared. She suggested a survey of these rivers to decide on the issue. Banerjee also invited Hasina to visit Kolkata.
On the Teesta water issue, PM Modi said the pact is important for Indo-Bangla relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal chief minister will eventually support it. "I am very happy that the chief minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts," he said, adding he "firmly" believes that an early solution to the issue "can and will" be found.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina for her country's development by putting behind a personal tragedy, which saw the massacre of 16 of her family members in a coup. "Can anyone imagine when 16 members of your family are murdered? And one daughter struggled to realise the dreams of 'Sonar Bangla' (golden Bangladesh). This is not a common thing. She (Hasina) stands rock solid and is working to take her country on the path of development.
"I hail her courage. The way she brought herself and her country out of troubled times. Very few have this courage," he said. The Prime Minister was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Hasina.
Hasina's father Shaikh Mujibur Rehman, famously known as 'Bangabandhu', and one of the leaders who led the Bangladesh Liberation movement were assassinated in a coup in 1975, along with the former's family members. Hasina and her sister Rehana escaped the attack as they were not in the country at that time.
Modi said Bangladesh has achieved phenomenal success in several areas after its independence. Listing out the achievements, he said since 1971, the average life expectancy of Bangladeshis have increased several times than India's, and its GDP has grown 31 times in 35 years.
The BJP leader said the infant mortality rate has gone down from 222 per 1,000 live births to 38 per 1,000 live births, and export has increased 125 times. "This speaks for a lot of change. Bangladesh is crossing new limits of economic development by following the vision of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he added.
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