Note verbale sent to India on reported Teesta water diversion plan
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Bangladesh foreign ministry has sent a note verbale to India, seeking information about media reports which said that India has initiated a project to divert water from the Teesta.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said this while talking to newsmen at the foreign ministry on Sunday.
The foreign secretary stated that the note verbale was sent a couple of days ago.
Responding to a question he said that the ministry did not express concern over the issue, as it was sent to seek information.
It may be mentioned that on Thursday the state minister for water resources told the media that his ministry would send a letter to India within a couple of days seeking information about the reported project taken by the neighbouring nation.
Commenting on the issue the foreign secretary said that the ministry has no information on whether the letter was sent or not.
India and Bangladesh agreed to sign a deal on water sharing of the Teesta River long ago, but it could not be materialised due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Marmota Banerjee.
Replying to another question, the foreign secretary said that a group of officials from Myanmar is now engaged in the verification of Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps.
But he made it clear that the repatriation of the refugees would not take place very soon as it required a series of processes.
Moreover, Bangladesh needs to be convinced that a conducive environment is created for the repatriation in Rakhine, the homeland of the Rohingyas.
The foreign secretary stated that Bangladesh has emphasised the verification process should follow certain methods.
For example, all the members of a family should be verified because if some of the members are not verified, then the other members of the same family would not agree to go back to their homes in Rakhine state, he explained.
The foreign secretary earlier made it clear that the Myanmar authorities have shown a positive attitude towards the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees in recent times.