Every dry season, the Teesta River shrinks a little more – and with it, the livelihoods of millions of Bangladeshis who depend on its waters to survive.
Dhaka has been asking India to help for years. Now, it is asking Beijing instead.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who took office in February, formally asked China earlier this month to help with its Teesta River restoration project, Bangladeshi state media reported.
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The US$1 billion scheme aims to dredge and rehabilitate more than 102km (63 miles) of a waterway that originates in the eastern Himalayas and passes through India’s Sikkim and West Bengal before flowing into Bangladesh.
Dhaka’s request came after Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing on May 6, where Wang reaffirmed Beijing’s readiness to align its Belt and Road Initiative with Bangladesh’s development agenda.
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