Bangladesh is not interested to renew the existing Ganges Water Sharing deal, which was signed with India in 1996, rather India has been urged to think alternative measures over the issue, BBC reports in its Bangle service.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during her recent India visit, requested Indian government to think about the Ganges water sharing deal resolving existing limitations and inconsistencies in the treaty which would ensure fair share of the water.
In 1996, the 30-year long water sharing agreement was signed and the term will be end in 2026, still ten years to run. But Bangladesh does not want to extend the term of the agreement.
Syed Moazzem Ali, Bangladesh High Commissioner in Delhi told BBC that the issue had been discussed during Prime Minister Hasina's recent visit to India.
He said, “We need to negotiate the agreement we made over the Ganges Basin as it was done over twenty years ago, and the rest is less than ten years.So, it has to be thinking from now on what would be the alternative plan for ten years apart.”
Indian experts also supported the stance of Bangladesh side.
India's eminent river specialist, Himanshu Thakkar said after twenty years of the treaty, if Bangladesh thinks that the Ganges agreement cannot fully protect its interests, then there are good reasons behind it.
He said, “A major limitation of this agreement is that it only determined the sharing of water for the dry season-- from January to May, it does not specify anything about rest of the year. Secondly, there is no obligation to the use of water in the upstream.”
However, Indian authorities did not agree to comment on this request by Bangladesh, but they acknowledged that Sheikh Hasina's position lead them to think about Ganges.