Hopeful that Teesta treaty will be a reality: Imam

H T Imam, the political adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said his country is hopeful that the Teesta water sharing treaty with India will become a reality in future.
"We are hopeful that the Teesta treaty will be a reality in future. We are hopeful that the Indian government and West Bengal government will give us the water of Teesta river in days to come," Imam told reporters at the sidelines of a programme here.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had in 2011 opted out of the delegation of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which visited Dhaka after the Teesta river water sharing deal.

The deal was infact cancelled following her opposition as she argued that the pact was not in interest of West Bengal.
However, Banerjee was herself present in Dhaka in 2015 for the Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh.
Asked to comment on Banerjee's opposition to the Teesta pact, Imam said, "as far as we know that she had said that Central government has not discussed the matter with her. We share very good relations with Mamata Banerjee".
Asked whether the Bangladesh government is hoping for any positive signal on the treaty ahead of Sheikh Hasina's proposed visit in February next year, Imam said, "the trip has been postponed to February. It is not about positive noises on Teesta. But there are lot of issues which need to be discussed and these discussions will be completed by December".