Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said that time is nearing for Bangladesh and India to negotiate terms to renew the Ganges water sharing treaty.

“Bangladesh and India signed the 30 year deal in 1996. Both the sides will have to chalk out new agreements upon negotiation within the next seven years,” said Momen.

He made the comments to the media on Saturday (Apr 27) after inaugurating a workshop on water diplomacy at the capital’s foreign ministry academy.

Shedding light on the Indian side’s stance on water sharing, the minister said, “It will be good if the current situation persists. I met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Sushoma Swaraj during my visit there. They said that they are agreed in principal to resolve the pending river water related issues.”

Momen also said that both the country in on the same page regarding the water sharing issue.

“However, some negotiation is ongoing in this regard,” he added.