(From top) Hasina with school students at Tin Bigha; the flags of India and Bangladesh held aloft by a student and Gulam Nabi Azad. Pictures by Sanjoy Chhattopadhyaya

Tin Bigha (Cooch Behar), Oct. 19: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is hopeful that the Teesta water sharing treaty will be signed soon.

Hasina said this during a 30-minute stopover at Cooch Behar’s Tin Bigha corridor after a visit to the Bangladeshi enclave, Dahagram-Angarpota, this morning.

Mamata Banerjee, who had taken the sheen off Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka last month by opposing the treaty in the current form, was absent when Hasina was on Bengal’s soil.

“I am hopeful that the agreement on Teesta water sharing between India and Bangladesh will be signed soon. Taratari hoye jabe (It will be signed soon),” Hasina said.

The Bangladeshi leader was received by Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and junior minister for home Jitendra Singh in the corridor.

“The opening of the Tin Bigha corridor was a long-standing demand. It is good that India has accepted it. It is a sign of our friendship. Both the countries have agreed on the exchange of enclaves, though it is yet to be implemented. If relations remain good, then everything is possible,” said Hasina.

She made no reference to Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whom she had congratulated after her victory in the Assembly polls in May. Neither Mamata nor any of her cabinet colleagues were present in Tin Bigha.

“She couldn’t come maybe because of her pre-occupation. The ministers from Bangladesh government are here, so are we,” Azad told journalists.

However, a senior minister at Writers’ Buildings said Mamata had not been invited to the event. “No invitation was sent to her. How can she attend a programme uninvited? Moreover, she had a busy day with an administrative meeting at Barasat and the cabinet meeting slated to be held later in the day,” said the minister.

He said Delhi had not extended an invitation to Mamata possibly because she had backed out of Manmohan Singh’s entourage during his trip to Dhaka to protest the 50:50 share of the Teesta water between Bangladesh and India.

Although both Singh and Hasina were keen on signing the pact, the draft had to be dropped because of Mamata’s objections.

The chief minister had argued that deal would have an adverse impact on north Bengal. She had also accused the Centre of not consulting her before moving ahead with the draft of the treaty. Despite her bonhomie with Hasina, Mamata refused to budge from her stand of putting Bengal’s interest first.

Hasina’s visit to Dahagram-Angarpota was her first since 24-hour access was provided to Bangladesh nationals to enter the enclaves through the corridor. Hasina told Azad that she had last visited Dahagram-Angarpota as the opposition leader.

“She (Hasina) had raised the issue (of keeping the corridor open) several times,” Azad said.

Azad and Hasina exchanged pleasantries and held a brief discussion on the contentious border issue.

“For resolving the border issue, there has to be a give-and-take policy,” said Azad.

The Bangladesh leader was accompanied by her Cabinet colleagues Dipu Moni (foreign), Sahara Khatun (home), Afama Ruhul Haque (health) and Enamul Haque (power).

The former Bangladesh president, H.M. Ershad, primary education minister and the local MP Motahar Husain and minister of state for home Shamsul Haque Tuku were also with her.

In the Tin Bigha corridor, 50 students of the BSF Senior Secondary School at Kadamtala waited with Indian and Bangladeshi flags to greet Hasina. She was offered sandwich, fish cutlet, cocktail samosa, rajbhog and sandesh.

“I had the sweets. I will come to visit Bengal,” Hasina told the journalists.

“As the prime minister, she is going the extra mile to strengthen relations with India. India, too, is also keen on taking the relationship forward,” said Azad.