Source: The Sangai Express / PTI
Dhaka, July 14 2009:
Bangladesh has deferred the visit of an all-party delegation to Manipur to examine the site of the cross-border Tipaimukh dam as leaders of the two countries are likely to discuss the issue on sidelines of the NAM summit.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to take up the issue of the Tipaimukh dam project with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh when the two leaders meet on the sidelines of the summit in Egypt this week.
An all party delegation from Bangladesh that was earlier scheduled to visit Manipur on July 15 will now visit the site after Hasina returns from Egypt, an official said.
Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen said the Foreign Ministry was yet to get any letter from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka regarding the visit but the visit would take place within this month, New Age newspaper said.
He said all preparations were done, including visa processing for members of the team that would visit
Tipaimukh.
"Moreover, the Awami League and the Jatiya Party are set to hold the parties' council sessions soon, which might also delay the visit," he said.
Hasina and Singh are expected to meet on the sidelines of the July 15-16 summit of Non-Alligned Movement in the Egyptian resort of Sharm-al-Sheikh.
"The scheduled visit of a Parliamentary delegation to the project site has been deferred therefore," an official at the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources Ministry was quoted as saying by the paper.