NEW DELHI, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- India and Bangladesh held a joint ministerial-level meeting to discuss river water sharing between the two sides, officials said Friday.
The two sides met on Thursday in New Delhi after a gap of 12 years for the 38th Meeting of Ministerial Level Joint Rivers Commission of India and Bangladesh.
The meeting focuses on issues including river water sharing, flood data sharing, addressing river pollution, conducting joint studies on sedimentation management, and river bank protection works, officials said.
"Both sides finalized the text of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on interim water sharing of Kushiyara river. Both sides also welcomed the finalization of the design and location of the water intake point on the Feni river to meet the drinking water needs of Sabroom town in Tripura as per the October 2019 India-Bangladesh MoU on this subject," said a statement issued by India's water resources ministry.
According to India's water resources ministry, India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, of which seven have been identified earlier for developing a framework of water sharing agreements on priority.
"During the meeting, it has been agreed to widen this area of ongoing cooperation by including eight more rivers for data exchange," the ministry said.
The Joint Rivers Commission of India and Bangladesh was constituted in 1972 as a bilateral mechanism to address issues of mutual interest on the common border and transboundary rivers. ■