Roundup: Bangladesh urges patience as Delhi again postpones river sharing deal issue during Modi's upcoming visit

Just a day before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to Dhaka, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali urged all"to have patience for a concrete outcome"regarding a key river sharing deal.

Ali made the plea for patience at a press conference held on Friday.

The plea came against the backdrop of Delhi's decision to further postpone discussion on common Teesta River sharing deal issue during Modi's visit.

Delhi's announcement came as a matter of grave concern to people from all strata of life in Bangladesh.

Sources said Delhi's decision to keep common Teesta River sharing deal issue beyond agenda dealt a big blow to Bangladeshi people shattering their long cherished hopes.

They said mass people's happiness surrounding Modi's visit vanished in the purview of River Teesta deal not being inked during the visit.

Expectations run very high that the long-standing understanding over sharing of Teesta waters would be reached for a deal during Modi's visit.

But Delhi a few days earlier made it clear that Teesta issue even will not be on the cards for discussion during the visit.

Although Ali asked for patience but claimed that they are not disappointed over Teesta.

"We're discussing the issue behind the scene to reach a consensus."

In a diplomatic somersault, Delhi in September 2011 also scrapped the draft of the proposed deal on sharing of the waters of the common river Teesta, a day ahead of the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh.

Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh and his official talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in September then were also overshadowed by New Delhi's last-moment dramatic decision against signing the Teesta water-sharing treaty.

It is often alleged from the part of the South Asian country that its neighbor India is lifting water from the river violating rules and taking advantage of no agreement to equally share the water of the trans-boundary river.

Demanding equitable share of common Teesta river water from India, Bangladesh people have long been staging demonstration and marching towards a barrage on Teesta river in an area bordering Lalmonirhat district, some 343 km northwest of Dhaka.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his first official visit to Bangladesh on June 6.

Modi is making the two-day state visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

During the visit, the two premiers are expected to discuss entire gamut of bilateral relations.

A number of deals including that on land boundary deal are likely to get final nod. Endi