New Delhi/Dhaka, May 27 (IANS) Continued Indian engagement in Teesta River management would go beyond addressing local riverine concerns, reinforcing bilateral confidence and underlining India’s role as the most “reliable and responsive partner” for Bangladesh in matters of direct human and economic significance, a report said on Wednesday.

India and Bangladesh have long held discussions on the Teesta River, centred on water sharing, seasonal flows and related concerns. For years, the matter was regarded as a difficult but manageable component of bilateral ties, though it has now acquired broader dimensions, former Indian diplomat Sanjay Kumar Verma wrote in ‘India Narrative’.

According to the expert, the Teesta issue presently carries broader strategic significance, offering insight into changing regional order in South Asia, where infrastructure projects and development partnerships increasingly influence geopolitical outcomes.

“Recent developments around the Teesta basin need to be read in that wider frame. In May 2026, the China-Bangladesh joint press release stated that the Bangladeshi side had sought Chinese involvement and support in the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project. This did not amount to a dramatic geopolitical rupture, nor should it be interpreted in such terms. Bangladesh has long pursued a multi-vector foreign policy and, like many states in the region, seeks to widen its developmental options where opportunities arise,” Verma detailed.

“Yet the significance of this step lies precisely in its gradualism. What is unfolding on the Teesta is not a sudden strategic realignment but the incremental deepening of Chinese presence in a sector that has traditionally been central to India-Bangladesh engagement,” he added.

Emphasising the significant political context of the Teesta issue, Verma said that during the tenure of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the country maintained a friendly approach towards India and pursued deeper bilateral engagement in several areas, including infrastructure, connectivity, energy, and river management.

However, he noted that following Hasina’s ouster in 2024, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, which took charge, marked a sharper shift – engaging closely with Pakistan and China in a manner widely interpreted in New Delhi “as an effort to reduce Indian influence in Dhaka”.

Verma highlighted that the ruling Tarique Rahman-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government has followed a similar trajectory, with a growing tilt towards China and Pakistan as “preferred partners”, while seeking to keep India at a distance from sensitive developmental engagements, including on the Teesta.

Asserting China’s growing footprint in the South Asian region, the seasoned diplomat said, “Bangladesh too has witnessed a gradual broadening of Chinese involvement in bridges, power plants, industrial cooperation, and now river restoration. The Teesta issue therefore belongs to a larger regional story, not an isolated bilateral episode.”

Verma further observed, “What sharpens the importance of the Teesta is geography. The basin lies close to the wider strategic space linked to the Siliguri Corridor, the narrow land bridge connecting mainland India to the Northeast. That proximity does not automatically convert every project in the area into a security challenge. But it does ensure that any durable external technical presence will be examined with serious scrutiny in New Delhi.”

–IANS

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