India-Bangladesh River Pact
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
World Affairs
- Published
8th Sep, 2022
-
Context
Recently, India and Bangladesh signed a water sharing agreement for the first time in 25 years.
What agreements were signed recently?
- River pact:
- India and Bangladesh signed an interim water sharing agreement for the Kushiyara river, the first such pact between them in over 25 years.
- The Ganga water treaty was signed in 1996.
- Significance
- The Kushiyara pact will benefit people in southern Assam and Sylhet in Bangladesh.
- India has extended the period of sharing flood water related information in real-time which will help Bangladesh counter the annual floods.
- Trade and cooperation:
- India and Bangladesh have decided to start negotiations on a comprehensive trade pact and strengthen cooperation against terrorism and radicalism.
- To further accelerate this growth, both countries will soon start discussions on the Bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
- Two sides signed pacts on railways, space, IT and media.
- Mujib Scholarship:
- Bangladesh’s PM Sheikh Hasina also announced the Mujib Scholarship recently for the direct descendants of the Indian soldiers killed or grievously injured in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
- The award is named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father.
- As many as 1,984 Indian Army personnel were killed in the war, according to the Bangladeshi government.
Rivers between India & Bangladesh
- There are 54 rivers that pass through the Indo-Bangladesh border.
- Of which seven have been identified earlier for developing the framework of water-sharing agreements on priority.
- During the recent meeting, the neighbours agreed to include eight more rivers for data exchange.
- Common Rivers
- The Ganges
- Teesta
- Manu
- Muhuri
- Khowai
- Gumti
- Dharla
- Dudhkumar
- Kushiyara
About Kushiyara River
- The Kushiyara River is a distributary river in Bangladesh and Assam, India.
- It forms on the India-Bangladesh border as a branch of the Barak River, when the Barak separates into the Kushiyara and Surma.
- Origin and course:
- The waters of the Kushiyara thus originate in the state of Nagaland in India and pick up tributaries from Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.
- From its origin at the mouth of the Barak, also known as the Amshid bifurcation point, the Kushiyara flows westward forming the boundary between Assam, India, and the Sylhet District of Bangladesh.
- Distance covered:
- Altogether, the Kushiyara runs about 160 kilometres.
|
