Hasina’s silence led to Ganges treaty without guarantee, arbitration clauses: Farooq Sobhan

Former foreign secretary Farooq Sobhan has said that the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty between Bangladesh and India was signed without guarantee and arbitration clauses despite concerns raised at the final stage of negotiations.
He described the omission as a serious flaw in the 30-year treaty, which is set to expire in December amid ongoing discussions between Dhaka and New Delhi over its renewal.
Farooq Sobhan, who served as foreign secretary from 1995 to 1997, made the remarks while recalling the diplomatic process behind the treaty at a book-launching event at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Saturday.
He said Bangladesh had been instructed to ensure that the new treaty was better than the 1977 agreement, including a guarantee of at least 34,500 cusecs of water and an arbitration clause.
Sobhan said he was later removed from the core negotiation process, while then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s secretary, Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, was given a key role in the negotiations. “When the final draft came to us, I, then foreign minister Abdus Samad Azad and state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury reviewed it and found that there was no guarantee or arbitration clause,” he said.
According to Sobhan, they met Hasina the day before her departure for Delhi and urged her not to go because the draft was not acceptable without the two clauses.
“She said, ‘I will solve it after going to Delhi,’” Sobhan recalled.
He said that after arriving in Delhi, then Indian foreign minister IK Gujral told Hasina that everything had been finalised and sought her approval to print the treaty for signing.
“I was waiting for the prime minister to say that the treaty had no guarantee and arbitration clauses, but she said nothing,” Sobhan said.
He said he then asked Hasina to raise the issue, but she replied, “No, you say.”
Sobhan subsequently informed Gujral about the missing clauses. Gujral reportedly said the agreement had been finalised through negotiations and that bureaucrats were creating problems at the last moment.
When Gujral again sought Hasina’s approval to print the treaty, she remained silent, which Sobhan interpreted as consent, he said.
“Then the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was signed without the guarantee and arbitration clauses,” he added.
Sobhan also said India had privately promised during the negotiations to assist Bangladesh in constructing a Ganges Barrage, but the commitment was later not honoured.
“There were two meetings on the Ganges Barrage project. The Indians privately promised to assist us. But, like other issues, this also died later,” he said, expressing hope that the project would be revived.
The Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was signed on 12 December 1996 for 30 years and is set to expire in December.