India Smokescreen Over Ganga Treaty Extension Alarming: IFC

The International Farakka Committee (IFC) has expressed concern over Indian leaders making Centre-state negotiations on Ganges water a condition for extending the 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with Bangladesh, which is due to expire on December 11.

The IFC said the position could create a “smokescreen” similar to the one that contributed to India’s failure to sign a Teesta water-sharing treaty with Bangladesh in 2011.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, September 9, IFC leaders recalled that the Teesta treaty had been agreed upon by Dhaka and New Delhi before Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka on September 6-7, 2011, but was ultimately stalled following opposition from then West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The IFC noted that Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had assured Bihar that the state’s water requirements would be taken into consideration before any decision on renewing the Ganges treaty, according to reports published by The Hindu and The Indian Express on September 2.

The assurance followed a demand from the Bihar government regarding the state’s water requirements, the statement said.

Earlier, the West Bengal government had also written to New Delhi, saying its demands concerning Kolkata Port and the Hooghly and Bhagirathi rivers should be addressed first.

Former Bihar Water Resources Minister Sanjay Jha raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha on August 6, while Jaishankar gave a written reply on August 28.

Meanwhile, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on August 21 that talks on extending the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty were continuing at the technical level.

The IFC said a decision on the matter would be difficult at the technical level, noting that the 1977 and 1996 Ganges water-sharing agreements were reached at the political level.

The 1977 agreement was signed by Bangladesh’s then Water Resources Minister Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan and Indian minister Jagjivan Ram. The 1996 treaty was signed by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

The IFC said informed sources had indicated that Bangladesh had sent a letter to the Indian government seeking an extension of the Ganges treaty, but New Delhi had yet to respond.

The committee said the treaty would expire in about three months and expressed concern that a “smokescreen” was being created in India before negotiations could be finalised or elevated to the political level.

“This is only a reminder of how the Teesta Treaty was stalled in 2011,” the IFC leaders said.

They urged the Bangladesh government to intensify diplomatic efforts to secure an extension of the Ganges treaty, saying the matter requires greater urgency.

The statement was signed by IFC Chief Adviser Prof Jasim Uddin Ahmad; Syed Tipu Sultan, chairman; Mohammad Hossain Khan, secretary general of IFC New York; Mostafa Kamal Majumder, president; Mahbub Alam, general secretary; and Rafiqul Islam Azad, joint secretary of IFC Bangladesh.