Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with PM Narendra Modi. File photo

New Delhi, April 7

India and Bangladesh share many commonalities and have demonstrated the will to resolve issues, like the long-standing land boundary agreement, then why should the Teesta water sharing issue be allowed to linger, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said in a newspaper article.Hasina, who arrived here on Friday on a four-day official visit, her first in seven years, has in a piece titled ‘Friendship is a flowing river’ in The Hindu, expressed hope that her visit would take the cooperation between the two countries to new heights.Hasina said there was no reason why there should be any contention between the two countries over sharing the waters of common rivers.“Only peaceful co-existence can ensure peace. There are some issues between us. But I believe that any problem can be resolved in a peaceful manner. We have demonstrated our willpower through the implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement. There are some more issues like sharing of waters of the common rivers (the Teesta issue is currently under discussion) that need to be resolved,” she wrote.“I’m an optimistic person. I would like to rest my trust on the goodwill of the great people and the leaders of our neighbour. I know resources are scarce, but we can share those for the benefit of the people of both countries. We share the same culture and heritage. There are a lot of commonalities (at least with West Bengal). We share our Lalon, Rabindranath, Kazi Nazrul, Jibanananda; there is similarity in our language, we are nourished by the waters of the Padma, Brahmaputra, Teesta and so on. The Sundarbans is our common pride. We don’t have any strife over it. Then, why should there be any contention over the waters of common rivers?” she asked.West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s assent is seen as crucial for inking of a deal with Bangladesh on sharing the Teesta river waters.In 2011, Banerjee had at the last moment dropped out of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Dhaka visit over her opposition to the Teesta agreement draft, which was set to be inked then.Banerjee has been invited for talks with Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi, but likelihood of an accord on Teesta being signed appear dim. — IANS