New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) Amid fresh concerns in Bangladesh over the Tipaimukh dam in Manipur, India Friday assured Dhaka that it will not take any steps on this project that will affect the neighbouring country.
The assurance was given when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s advisers, Mashiur Rahman and Professor Gowher Rizvi, called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The prime minister reiterated the assurance he had given to Sheikh Hasina during his visit to Dhaka in September that India will not take steps on Tipaimukh project that will adversely affect Bangladesh, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said in response to a question.
‘The government of India has already conveyed to the government of Bangladesh its readiness to hold discussions with the government of Bangladesh on the project,’ he said.
India’s renewed assurance came as the Tipaimukh hydroelectric project has once again become a contentious political issue, with the opposition parties latching on to the issue to pin down the Sheikh Hasina government.
Some Bangladeshi environmentalists and experts have expressed serious concern at the ecological, economic and human consequences the dam would have for Bangladesh.
In fact, Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia wrote a letter to Manmohan Singh last week voicing her apprehensions over the project. Manmohan Singh is understood to have replied, saying the project would not affect the interests of Bangladesh.
In 2009, Bangladesh had sent a 10-member delegation of political leaders to visit the site. The delegation gave a positive report, saying the dam would not hurt the interests of Bangladesh.
