Hasina relies on Modi's Teesta promise

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday expressed her confidence in her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's assurance of signing a Teesta water-sharing agreement soon, despite earlier failure to strike a deal at all.

She came up with her observations on the Teesta failure, at a reception hosted by India Foundation, a research wing of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), at a hotel in India's New Delhi.
"Prime minister Narendra Modi has assured us (of a deal soon) and we are optimistic about it," said the Bangladesh premier.
An agreement on Teesta could not be signed after two major attempts -- once during the Dhaka tour of former Indian premier Manmohan Singh in 2011 and again during Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh in 2015.
Dwelling on reservation West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banarjee's about Teesta agreement, Sheikh Hasina went on to say, "I talked with didi (sister indicating Mamata). We didn't get waters, but at least we got something else -- electricity."
Both Monmohan Singh's and Narendra Modi's governments refrained from signing an agreement on Teesta taking into cognizance Mamata Banarjee's objection on political grounds although there is no legal restriction on signing a bileteral deal bypassing a state government.
Sheikh Hasina said, "Once the Teesta treaty is signed, it will take the relations between the two nations to a new height."
She expressed her belief that signing of Teesta deal will work as a catalyst for transformation of bilateral relations.
"We strongly believe we should work towards uniting ourselves through use of common resources of water," added the prime minister.
She emphasised a joint basin management of the common rivers to resolve water issues for the future.
Former deputy prime minister of India, LK Advani was present among others at the function.