New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday night and assured her that nothing will be done on the Teesta river water sharing issue with Bangladesh that will harm the interests of the state.
The interests of West Bengal will be kept in mind and consultations with her will continue on the issue, Singh told Banerjee, a close aide of the Trinamool chief said.
Banerjee has opted out of the Prime Minister's two-day visit to Bangladesh starting on Tuesday upset over the final draft of the Teesta river water sharing pact which is believed to have earmarked more water for Bangladesh than stipulated in the earlier draft.
While Banerjee has pulled out, chief ministers from Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram-states bordering Bangladesh-will be part of the PM's delegation.
There are enough indications that the pact would not be inked during the upcoming visit. Top officials said anything agreed between India and Bangladesh would have to be acceptable to West Bengal and consultations in this regard would continue.
The deal on Teesta, which originates in Sikkim and flows to Northern part of West Bengal before entering Bangladesh, was a big-ticket item on the agenda of Prime Minister's visit but has now run into uncertainty following Banerjee's reservations on inking it.
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