Teesta deal 'soon'
Indian foreign secretary tells press
Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai yesterday said the Teesta water sharing deal and ratification of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement would be concluded within the "shortest possible time".
"We have unwavering commitment to reach a satisfactory conclusion. We're determined to conclude it as soon as possible," he told a joint press conference with Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Huq at the foreign ministry.
The two foreign secretaries had earlier inked a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation between Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy and Indian Foreign Service Institute.
Mathai said the recently signed two major agreements on extradition and liberalised visa regime would further strengthen the bilateral ties between the two neighbours.
On the border killings, he said such killings occur at night during armed confrontation between miscreants and the border guards. Only maximum restraint by the border guards and strengthened joint patrolling could deal with such problems, he added.
Mathai stressed short- and long-term measures to deal with the border killings.
Asked about trial of the Indian border guards for the killing of Bangladeshi young girl Felaini, Mathai expressed his ignorance about the incident that had caused a stir at both home and abroad.
Queried if the Indian government would finance the Padma multipurpose bridge, he said, "We have not begun any formal discussion. This is a very large project and it is not possible for a single partner to finance the project."
He said the Indian government had made a $200 million grant out of its $1 billion Line of Credit and Bangladesh was free to use that grant.
Mathai said the Bangladesh government is discussing with various partners to finance the project. If there is a consortium, the Indian companies would be happy to take part in it, he added.
On the war crimes issue, Mathai said India supports the trial of war criminals of 1971, saying justice is being done after a long time.
In reply to a question about the ongoing demonstrations at Shahbagh, he said the demonstrations and outcome of the trial is entirely an internal matter of Bangladesh.
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