Tag: feni river

Hasina Raises NRC Again, Modi Tells Her Process is ‘Court Mandated’

Hasina had brought up similar concerns at New York, where she met Modi on the sidelines of the UNGA, as well.

New Delhi: In their second meeting in 10 days, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reiterated her concern over the ramifications that the National Register of Citizens process in Assam would have for her country, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

The Bangladesh PM held formal talks with Modi on the third day of her official visit. Following the discussions, the duo jointly inaugurated three development projects and witnessed the signing of seven bilateral documents.

Indian and Bangladeshi officials confirmed that Sheikh Hasina did bring up the NRC issue in her talks with Modi at Hyderabad House.

According to a source at the Indian government, Modi told Hasina that the NRC was an “ongoing process and court mandated”.

“We will see as the situation emerges,” he reportedly added.

Also read: Sheikh Hasina Expresses ‘Great Concern’ Over NRC, Modi Tells Her Not to Worry

Hasina had previously raised the NRC issue with Modi when they met in New York on September 27. According to her foreign minister, the Indian PM had assured her that there was no need to worry about the NRC. Hasina had also expressed satisfaction with Modi’s declaration.

There had been increasing signs of nervousness in Bangladesh over remarks of BJP ministers who have been repeatedly advocating deportations of ‘foreigners’. Bangladesh does not accept that there has been large scale illegal migrations into India.

There was, however, no mention of the NRC issue in the joint statement.


Speaking to reporters on Friday evening, Bangladesh foreign secretary Shahidul Haque said that Dhaka will be keeping its eye open on the NRC issue. But he also added that there was no need to raise any alarm yet.

There was also a discussion on border security, with both leaders directing the completion of fencing on remaining sectors. “Both leaders also agreed that the loss of civilian lives at the border is a matter of concern and directed the concerned border forces to enhance coordinated measures to work toward bringing such border incidents down to zero,” said the joint statement.

Dhaka has been worried about the impact of NRC in Assam state, especially since it is already hosting 1.1 million Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar after a security crackdown in the Rakhine province in August 2017.

Also read: Why India and Bangladesh Need a Resolution on Teesta Water Sharing

As per the joint statement, the two leaders agreed on the need to “expedite safe, speedy and sustainable repatriation of displaced persons to their homes in the Rakhine State of Myanmar”. 

They also called for greater efforts to be made to facilitate their return, including by improving security situation and socio-economic conditions in the Rakhine state.

Modi informed Hasina that a fifth tranche of humanitarian assistance, comprising tents, rescue material and 1,000 sewing machines, will be supplied to supplement Bangladesh’s efforts to shelter the Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar.

Rohingya refugees gather to mark the second anniversary of the exodus at the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, August 25, 2019. Photo: Reuters/Rafiqur Rahman

India has completed a project to build 250 houses in Rakhine state of Myanmar, and is now preparing to implement another set of socio-economic development projects in the area, said the joint statement.

The issue of India’s export ban on onion was not discussed between the two prime ministers, but came up during the meeting of Sheikh Hasina with Indian commerce minister, Piyush Goyal.

As per Indian government sources, Goyal assured her that committed contracts for onion supply would be honoured. He also told Hasina that India would keep Bangladesh in the loop regarding changes in the export policy of onions.

India banned the export of onions in September to contain spiralling prices in the domestic market, resulting in a major shortage in Bangladesh.

Also read: Indian Onion Export Ban Likely to Disrupt the Market in Bangladesh

At a meeting with Indian businessmen on Friday, Hasina had joked that she had asked her cook to stop using onions.

“I don’t know why you stopped onion (exports). So what I did was, I told my cook not to use onion in food…Prior notice of such decisions would help. Suddenly, you stopped and it became a difficulty for us. In future, if you are taking such a decision, prior information would help,” she had said.

On the contentious issue of signing an agreement on sharing the waters of the Teesta, Modi did not provide any dates, but stated that his government was working with all stakeholders to ink the pact within the “soonest possible” time.

Since 2011, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has refused to soften her opposition to the agreement, claiming that there is not enough water in the river to allow for its sharing with Bangladesh. Hasina had stated that “people of Bangladesh are awaiting early signing and implementation of the Framework of Interim Agreement for sharing of the Teesta waters, as agreed upon by both governments in 2011”.


Meanwhile, the two leaders directed the Joint Rivers Commission to prepare the draft framework of the Interim Sharing Agreements for the six rivers – Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar and to finalise the draft framework of the interim sharing agreement of Feni river.

Incidentally, one of the seven agreements signed on Saturday were an MoU for the withdrawal of 1.82 cusec of water from Feni river by India for drinking water, a scheme for the Sabroom town in Tripura.

The two neighbours also signed an MoU for a coastal radar surveillance network and a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on the use of Chattogram and Mongla ports for the movement of goods to and from India.

The three projects that were inaugurated remotely by the two leaders on Friday were for import of bulk LPG from Bangladesh, a students hostel at Ramakrishna Mission in Dhaka and a skill development institute at Khulna.

Modi is scheduled to visit Dhaka in March next year to mark the birth anniversary celebrations of Bangladesh founder, Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman.