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Bangladesh wants to negotiate a new water-sharing agreement with India on the Ganges rather than simply renew the existing treaty, Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee said on Thursday.
He said the proposed agreement should include a guarantee clause to ensure Bangladesh receives its fair share of water based on availability, particularly during the dry season.
Speaking to reporters after opening a high-level river dialogue in Dhaka, Anee said Bangladesh needs a mechanism to guarantee the required amount of water at the appropriate time.
He warned that inadequate dry-season flows could severely affect agriculture, fisheries and the wider economy, while excessive flows during the monsoon could increase the risk of flooding.
The 30-year Ganges Water-Sharing Treaty, signed in 1996, is due to expire in December. Bangladesh has previously called for restoring a guarantee clause included in the 1977 agreement but omitted from the 1996 treaty.
On the Teesta project, Anee said the government had received feasibility studies from both domestic and international sources and was receiving technical assistance.
He said the government was working to complete the necessary studies and make the project visible soon in line with its commitments.
The minister said Bangladesh was considering implementing the Teesta project through its own financing or a government-to-government arrangement, with the final decision to be based on the feasibility findings.
Earlier, speaking at the “Kollolini: A River Dialogue 2026,” Anee described rivers as the backbone of Bangladesh’s economy and called for coordinated efforts to protect them from pollution and other pressures.
The dialogue brought together government agencies, development partners, experts, researchers and civil society representatives to discuss river management and protection.