The India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission’s technical-level talks that were scheduled to begin on Thursday were cancelled at the last minute, an official of the Ministry of Jal Shakti said on Wednesday. Though the official didn't mention any specific reason for cancellation of the talks, he said, “It was a request from the Bangladesh side.” However, sources said the meeting was postponed due to the delay in the exchange of data on six common rivers which was updated several years ago. Noting that the meeting was scheduled to be held on December 19-20, the official said the new date of the meeting has not been finalised yet. The cancellation of the meeting comes at time when the country is witnessing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act passed by Parliament earlier this month. Last week, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, too, cancelled their scheduled visits to India. India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers and a Joint River Commission is functioning since June 1972. Besides this, technical level meetings are held regularly.
