POBNEWS24, Dhaka Jan 19, 2024 : China has built an ocean monitoring station in Mukunudhu, Maldives, near the Indian border. Fears have been expressed in the country’s media about intelligence, China wants to build a submarine base there secretly.
Besides the Indian Ocean, another base for Chinese submarines in the Bay of Bengal has raised concerns among Indian policy makers.
However, the waters of the Teesta River inside Bangladesh have become a cause of greater concern than the sea. Despite the finalization of the draft Teesta water sharing agreement with India, the agreement has been stalled since 2011 due to the objections of the West Bengal government.
Teesta has been a thorn in the neck of the Awami League government since it has not been able to get rid of this tangle even after being in power for a century and a half.
In this context, the Ministry of Water Resources of Bangladesh prepared a proposal for the integrated management of the Teesta River in 2020. China also agreed to give a loan of 8,200 crore Taka.
Under the proposed project, artificial reservoirs will be created and water will be retained and used for irrigation throughout the year. The entire basin of the 115 km river will be dug deep and permanent dams will be constructed on both banks. Marine Drive will be constructed on both sides of the river to be linked with national and international road connectivity. As a result, it will be possible to recover about 200 square kilometers of land, where several industrial areas and satellite cities will be developed.
But the Bangladesh government has not yet proceeded due to India’s informal objection. The area where this mega project is proposed to be built is just a few kilometers away from India’s Siliguri Corridor, which many call the ‘Chicken’s Neck’ of India.
This corridor is the means of road communication with the north-eastern states of India. China has a border dispute with India over several areas, including the Doklam Pass. As a result, India is worried about the presence of China so close to the Siliguri corridor.
India’s apprehension and Bangladesh’s concern about this is not unknown to China. In 2022, the then Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh Li Ziming publicly expressed his opinion about it. He said, “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I am personally concerned that the Bangladesh government may change its position later on… under some outside pressure, I’m not sure.”
He added, “If China decides to go ahead with the project and Bangladesh later changes its decision citing ‘Chinese debt trap or geopolitical sensitivities’ about the project, it will create a bad situation.”
However, the current Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen said in a seminar on December 21 last year said, “I am waiting until the end of the upcoming election.” China is interested in working for the development of Teesta River. We hope that we can start the work of Teesta project after the elections on January 7.
In August of the same year, Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged to implement this master plan in a grand rally in Rangpur. Newly appointed Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Hasan Mahmud, among many others, was present on the stage with Sheikh Hasina at that time.
Former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Tauhid Hossain, who also served as Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata from 2001 to 2005, feels that India’s lack of goodwill is responsible for this crisis around the Teesta and due to this, the relationship between the two countries has also been affected.
He told this correspondent that, “A deal will be done after it is drafted, a deal has been kept in deep freeze after being said to be done. There is nothing to say about it. It has an effect. We know that there is less water in a river, the need is much more. But the fact that it cannot be shared at all, cannot be accepted”.
He said, “If China goes further with the Teesta project, India may raise objections. In that case, maintaining the trilateral (India, China and Russia) support on the Bangladesh issue will become a challenge, it is also a matter of concern.
