‘China ready but prefer India’: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina on $1-bn Teesta project

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that even as China is ready, it is India they prefer to execute the $1 billion river development project.

According to a report in Bloomberg, PM Hasina said, “China is ready but I want India to do the project.” She was addressing reporters at a press conference in Dhaka on Sunday. “China has made an offer to us, they did a feasibility study. India has also made an offer, and will do a feasibility study,” she said. PM Hasina said she would give greater priority to the project being done by India because the neighbouring country has held up Teesta’s waters.

This comes as both India and China are trying to woo Bangladesh for the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration project, led by Dhaka, that would manage the river’s water better. 

During Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in June, the development of the 414 km long Teesta river basin was a key topic of discussion. The Teesta river flows from India into Bangladesh. Both countries share several rivers originating from the Himalayas and flowing into the Bay of Bengal. 

An agreement on sharing the Teesta river's water was reached in 2011, but it was not finalised due to objections from the Indian state of West Bengal, through which the river flows before entering Bangladesh. In the meantime, China stepped in with an offer of its own. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in June that an Indian technical team would soon visit Dhaka for the Teesta project. 

"Fifty-four shared rivers connect India and Bangladesh. We have been cooperating on flood management, early warning, and drinking water projects. We have decided to start negotiations at the technical level for the renewal of the 1996 Ganga Water Treaty," he had said.