India, Bangladesh finalise long-pending Teesta river deal: Official

New Delhi: In a major development, India and Bangladesh have finalised their long-pending Teesta river deal and both sides will sign an agreement in this regard soon, a Bangladesh newspaper said on Sunday.

“We are confident that it will be signed soon. The agreement is ready. The ball is on India's court now,” the dailystar.net quoted Gowher Rizvi, adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as saying.

Both sides were expected to sign the Teesta treaty in September 2011, one year after it was drafted, but it had to be shelved in the last minute in the face of opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Teesta originates in the Himalayas and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh. 

Rizvi made the announcement during a panel discussion at the two-day Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue in Dhaka.

The event was organised Bangladesh's foreign ministry in collaboration with the India Foundation.

Politicians, academics, think-tanks, former diplomats and senior journalists of both the countries attended the event.