India-Bangladesh water sharing talks begin

The two-day talks on water between India and Bangladesh began in Dhaka on Monday with both sides hoping to find a solution to outstanding issues.

Water Resources Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi is heading a 13-member delegation to the long-delayed Bangladesh-India joint river commission's meeting while his counterpart Hafizuddin Ahmed represents the Bangladeshi side.

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The meeting was scheduled to be held in December, 2003, but was put back repeatedly although it is supposed to meet twice a year.

"I have come here with a mandate not to hold discussions for the sake of discussions only, but to find an effective solution to the outstanding problem," he told reporters on his arrival.

The 36th commission meeting has seven points on its agenda, including the sharing of the Teesta river.

The two countries share 54 common rivers' water and in 1996 inked the landmark Ganges river water sharing treaty.