B'desh to hold talks with India over sharing of rivers: Dhaka official

Bangladesh will soon take steps to hold negotiations with India over the sharing of water of transboundary rivers, an adviser of the interim government said on Wednesday. India and Bangladesh were set to sign a deal on Teesta water sharing during then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in 2011, but West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declined to endorse it, citing a scarcity of water in her state. Speaking at a seminar titled 'Bangladesh's Fair Share of Water in Shared Rivers' here, Water Resources Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said Bangladesh would soon take steps to hold negotiations with India over the sharing of water from transboundary rivers, state-run BSS news agency reported. She said that the negotiations will be held after considering public opinion and the outcomes of the talks will be shared with the people. Rizwana said although the water sharing of international rivers is a complex issue, the exchange of essential information should not be a political