Mamata Banerjee; Manmohan Singh at Dhaka University on Wednesday. Picture by Amit Datta

Dhaka, Sept. 7: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today described as “unfortunate” the inability to seal the Teesta deal despite “working hard”, and promised to intensify efforts to find a viable formula that would not cause “undue distress” to those dependent on the river.

On his way back to India, the Prime Minister spoke more extensively on the topic but sidestepped a question if chief minister Mamata Banerjee was responsible for the diplomatic embarrassment. “Mamataji is one of our key political leaders and I don’t want to comment on her,” PTI quoted Singh as telling reporters accompanying him.

This morning, while delivering an address at Dhaka University, the Prime Minister had said: “I was hopeful that during this visit we would be able to come to an agreement on the sharing of the waters of the Teesta river. Both sides worked very hard to arrive at a solution…. Unfortunately, these efforts did not meet with success within the time available.”

The Prime Minister cited another water rights issue and made an uncharacteristic iteration — “I repeat India will not take any steps that will adversely affect Bangladesh” — to assuage the hurt feelings of the neighbour.

It was the Prime Minister’s first reaction — and expression of disappointment that reflected the mood of his audience — on the controversy surrounding the Teesta water-sharing agreement, which was aborted at the eleventh hour after Mamata raised objections.

On board his flight while returning, Singh said Mamata was consulted more than a month ago and he had sent national security adviser Shivshankar Menon to apprise her of the details.

When the Teesta issue had come up before the cabinet committee on political Affairs a few days before the Prime Minister’s trip to Dhaka, railway minister Dinesh Trivedi raised objections, Singh said.

“Then, I again sent Shivshankar Menon to talk to her. I was told all the technicalities were settled but in the meantime, something obviously happened and Mamataji disagreed with it,” the Prime Minister added.

He said that although signing a treaty with another country was in the Centre’s domain, “we decided to take along the concerned state governments”.

Asked if regional parties were putting pressure on the Centre, Singh said these parties had a key role to play, their voices should be heard and the Centre would like to take them on board on certain foreign policy issues.

Singh described his maiden bilateral visit to Bangladesh as “very satisfying” but added: “It would have been better had the Teesta deal been signed.”

Although the two countries signed 10 agreements and memoranda of understanding yesterday, the deals were overshadowed by the Teesta deadlock.

Bangladesh’s media and commentators felt that India failed to deliver on its promise of sharing the Teesta waters. “We are not satisfied with the outcome of the agreements. A lot more could have been achieved,” said economist Rehman Sobhan, whom Singh mentioned as his friend during the address.

The Prime Minister was aware of the mood as he rose to speak at the Senate Hall in Dhaka University. He tried his best to communicate that the last word on the Teesta was yet to be heard and India was keen on expanding the scale and scope of association with Bangladesh.

“I have asked the officials concerned to intensify their efforts towards finding a viable formula which does not cause undue distress to all those, in India or in Bangladesh, who are dependent on the flow of the river,” said the Prime Minister.

Inherent in the statement was the suggestion that the Centre will start discussions with Mamata afresh on the Teesta.

The Prime Minister also addressed another key concern — the Tipaimukh dam — of Bangladesh in his speech. The Tipaimukh dam is a proposed embankment dam on the Barak river in Manipur. The project — aimed at flood control and hydel power generation — has kicked up a storm between the two countries over water rights.

“Concern has been expressed from time to time on the Tipaimukh dam project in India. I wish to make it clear that India will not take — and I repeat India will not take — steps that will adversely affect Bangladesh,” said Singh.

Besides focusing on water — Singh referred to it as a sensitive subject in both the countries — the Prime Minister spoke at length on how India was trying its best to achieve higher economic co-operation with Bangladesh.

He explained in detail that his government was keen to expand trade opportunities for Bangladeshi products in Indian markets and increase Indian investment in Bangladesh.

He also thanked the Sheikh Hasina government for its efforts to combat the forces of extremism and terrorism. “Both India and Bangladesh are vulnerable to the forces of extremism and terrorism…. I would like to acknowledge the immense co-operation India has received from Bangladesh in this area,” Singh said on a day a blast killed several people in Delhi.