Nepal and Bangladesh can best extend bilateral as well as regional cooperation in the field of water resources and energy, visiting Water Resources Minister of Bangladesh, Hafiz Uddin Ahmad said Thursday.
“There should be equitable distribution of water resources in the region,” the Bangladeshi minister said, addressing a talk program on “Bangladesh-Nepal: Dialogue on Cooperation” organised by Jalsrot Vikas Manch in Kathmandu.
The minister, at the same time, blamed India of trying to convert Bangladesh into a dry state through the latter’s ambitious “river-linking project.”
“The project poses threat to Bangladesh to a large extent, as we are the lower riparian country” the minister, who, according to reports, is in Nepal for lobbying against the Indian project, said.
Working together with Nepal, which is an upper riparian country, can help reduce such threats, according to him.
Speaking on the same occasion, Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani said Nepal and Bangladesh can benefit more by increasing regional cooperation.
“Sub-regional development activities in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India will help reduce poverty,” Dr. Lohani said.
In his welcome speech, Dr. Upednra Gautam, acting secretary general of the Manch, said that “channelising fresh water to Bangladesh from Nepal and receiving gas energy from there can be the single most reliable and credible resources for mutual cooperation.”
The Bangladeshi minister is visiting Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa on Friday, it is learnt. PM Thapa also holds the portfolio of Water Resources Ministry.