Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina in Myanmar next week in the backdrop of delay in signing the long-pending agreements on Teesta river water sharing treaty and India's ratification of land boundary agreement with that country.
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said Singh will meet Hasina on the sidelines of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation(BIMSTEC) Summit on March 4 in Myanmar.
It will be the first meeting between Singh and Hasina after her party Awami League coasted to a landslide victory in the January five parliamentary election, bagging 231 seats in the face of a boycott by BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance.
"I can confirm that the Prime Minister will be meeting the Bangladesh Prime Minister and as always when they meet, the conversation is cordial and comprehensive," she said replying to a question.
The agreement on Teesta river treaty was put on hold after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed reservation over the quantum of water to be given to Bangladesh and she opted out of Singh's entourage to Dhaka in September, 2011.
The LBA on demarcation of the border and exchange of 161 adversely-held enclaves with a population of estimated 50,000 is aimed is seen as an important confidence building measure between the two neighbours.
The Indian government has to get the agreement ratified by Parliament before implementing it as it involves exchange of land. Bangladesh had conveyed its unhappiness about non-implementation of the land boundary agreement.
