India reacts cautiously to Dhaka’s plan to develop Teesta river with China

INdia on fri reacted carefully to bangla desh’s plans to evolve the Teesta river and an economical corridor with China’s assistance, saying that New Delhi monitors all such developments in the neighbourhood and will take “appropriate measures” in response.During Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to China last month, the two sides reached an understanding on cooperating on the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project. Beijing has also unveiled plans for moving forward with the proposed China-Bangladesh-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CBMEC).When external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked about these developments at a regular media briefing, he replied that the Indian side tracks all such developments in the region.“We closely follow all such developments in our neighbourhood and take appropriate measures as required,” he said. “On the question of Teesta, let me say that India’s development assistance for projects in Bangladesh is based on a mutually agreed roadmap, which is regularly reviewed.”India’s views on the Teesta river project “have been previously conveyed to the Bangladesh side”, he said. “We will factor all related developments in our overall approach to the Teesta issue,” he added, without going into details.India has kept a wary eye on Bangladesh’s efforts to rope in China for key infrastructure projects, which began during the term of the caretaker administration led by Muhammad Yunus and have been continued by the new Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government led by Rahman.At a meeting with China’s water resources minister Li Guoying during his visit to Beijing last month, Rahman sought Chinese technical assistance for Bangladesh’s river management projects, including the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project. Li assured Bangladesh of China’s full cooperation for water resource management initiatives. Chinese experts have already conducted a feasibility study for the Teesta project.During a meeting with reporters in Dhaka on Thursday, Chinese ambassador Yao Wen said his country is determined to proceed with Bangladesh and Myanmar to build the CBMEC. Yao also said China is moving ahead with government-to-government cooperation on the Teesta project.The CBMEC, if completed, will give China direct access to the Bay of Bengal. India also has concerns that Chinese personnel involved in the Teesta project will get access to areas near the so-called “chicken’s neck” or the slender territory connecting the strategic northeastern states to the mainland.During a visit to India by former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina in June 2024, India had signalled its interest in taking up the conservation of the Teesta river within Bangladesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said at the time that an Indian technical team would visit Dhaka for talks on the conservation and management of the Bangladeshi section of the Teesta, the only one of 54 cross-border rivers for which the two countries do not have a water-sharing agreement.