'Lack of movement on water issue irritant in Indo-Bangla ties'

A 12-member delegation comprising lawmakers from Bangladesh held talks with their Indian counterparts in a parliamentary dialogue and also met representatives of Indian civil society over the past two days.

At an interaction here with women journalists, the delegation members said they had raised the relevant issues and problems during their meetings and described their discussions as "excellent".

Identifying the land border issue as one of the main problem that persists between India and Bangladesh, Awami League MP Tofail Ahmed expressed unhappiness that India has not yet ratified a 1974 land boundary agreement.

He also said that killings of Bangladeshis in cross border firing, which have been put at 48 by Bangladesh so far this year, were a major cause of resentment among the people.

"Nobody denies there is smuggling (in the border areas) it has been decided that both forces would coordinate and cooperate on cross border illegal activities. The problem has been identified by both governments," Ahmed said when asked about cross border smuggling.

He said the number of deaths in cross border firing had gone down recently but continues to be high and a matter of concern.

The BSF has time and again complained of illegal cattle smuggling across the border and has said that firing cannot be stopped altogether until criminal activities were stopped.

However, the Bangladeshi parliamentarians said smuggling notwithstanding, such a large number of deaths were not acceptable.

"Indian and Bangladeshi laws are the same. They do not authorise killing for acts of smuggling. The figure (of deaths) is alarming," said M K Anwar of Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP).

Another problem issue identified by the delegation was of lack of agreements on water sharing and the perceived lack of information from the Indian side.

"We have 54 rivers between us. And we have all kinds of misconceptions or no information at all of what is happening (on the Indian side). We have been urging the Indian government to let us know what they are doing, being in a position of advantage (in the upper reaches).

"We don't have proper information and our people are concerned on this issue," said BNP leader Moudud Ahmed. (MORE)