Sheikh Hasina visit: Have Mamata and Modi finally made up?

Nazdik aaiye (come close). This was an offer straight from the pages of diplomatic courtesy, if not from the heart — and from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Flashbulbs glowed as shutters went click-click for that photo op: Sheikh Hasina, Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee, caught in the same frame, flagging off bus and rail routes from Kolkata to Dhaka, with their fingers pressed on the same remote pad.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was maintaining a safe one-foot or so of a distance from Modi and was visually offering a clumsy picture of the trio, came a little close as Modi gestured with his hand and the five-month-old acrimony over demonetisation was gone. At least the picture indicated so.

Throughout the speech of two prime ministers, Mamata was seated in front of the dais, flanked by two Union ministers — external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and junior minister for heavy industries Babul Supriyo.

The ministers were giving her company but more than that they were engaged in a mind game as to what the lines and creases and the fleeting expressions on her face were giving out.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledging her presence as his “honoured guest”, immediately set the tenor of what was to follow.

Mamata’s feelings and concern for Bangladesh were as “warm” and genuine, perhaps he suggested that, as his own, who was committed for giving that extra push to the Teesta agreement within the current tenure of the Bangladesh prime minister, going to the polls next year.

Mamata obviously didn’t like it: a deadline being set for the Teesta agreement, when a couple of other North Bengal rivers were flowing in her mind as alternatives. Over lunch, which was a sumptuous spread of choicest Bengali cuisines, Mamata was nibbling away.

Conversation flowed but Teesta was carefully locked for other times. Hasina invited Mamata for a one-on-one dinner as her guest at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. She was perhaps looking for some private moments of sisterly chit-chat (Hasina always say Mamata is like a younger sister to her) when Teesta could be introduced.

Nobody knows how Teesta came up in the tête-à-tête, but Mamata emerged out of the Rashtrapati Bhawan and Torsa was springing into the scene. Mamata told the journalists waiting outside that Torsa and a few rivers of north Bengal could be explored as alternatives to the Teesta.

A joint press statement issued on the concluding day of Hasina’s India visit made it clear that both Bangladesh and India were committed to concluding the Teesta, for Teesta was not just a river, but a sentiment criss-crossing the culture, the tradition, an aspiration for improving the relation between the two countries.

Hasina left but not forgetting to mention that she was not going back empty-handed as the Opposition party in her country was trying to campaign. “Paani maanga, bijli mila,” Hasina told the media in New Delhi before taking the flight home. Dark humour. She had come for Teesta but was offered Torsa, the substitute as un-matched as the paani-bijli analogy.

Nevertheless, she was banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his strong resolve to see through the Teesta treaty at the earliest, before facing the polls. Back home Hasina has also gone on record to say that as against Mamata's “alternative” (Torsa water), she has had another alternative to offer: Let Bengal use water of other north Bengal rivers and allow Teesta water to flow into Bangladesh.

Some tough negotiations, some hard parleys are underway. Amid this uncertainty over Teesta the high point of the high-profile meet was the thawing of the ice between Modi and Mamata. The two met privately for some 20-odd minutes. Though Mamata was trying to project the visit as official and purely from the concern of the state, people have already started reading between the lines.

The Opposition at home in Bengal got into the mode of showcasing the visit, “the coming close” as purely a political compulsion to save the Trinamool Congress leaders, who were accused in Narada and Saradha scams. The Left and the Congress got a fillip to once again reiterate their observation of a tacit Modi-Didi understanding.

As for the Trinamool Congress leaders, who are politically bound to maintain distance with the BJP because of the minority votebank, they are facing some hard time to feign something, other than the recovered friendship between Modi and Didi.

Mamata is flying to China first week of June. Officially she is going there to scout investment for Bengal. Her sudden decision to respond to China's invitation of a visit has triggered speculations, especially after the Teesta deal with Bangladesh took a beating.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi treasures Bangladesh as a dependable partner in the fight against cross-border terrorism. He does not want anything, especially no Chinese overtures, to drive a wedge between the two.

The Teesta treaty would have been a step towards cementing that friendship. Mamata, as the chief minister’s office has confirmed, is going to China on a purely business trip to invite Chinese investors. West Bengal is badly in need of some deep pockets in the industry sector.

“Don't dilute the significance of the China visit with any speculation of exploring river water potentiality,” an official said.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

Also read: How Mamata's bluntness put Sheikh Hasina out of misery on Teesta waters