SANTINIKETAN: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina will meet at Santiniketan in West Bengal on Friday after the inauguration of Bangladesh Bhawan.
Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, Visva-Bharati University vice-chancellor Sabujkoli Sen said that the two Prime Ministers will hold talks after the inauguration.
The Bangladesh Bhaban in Santiniketan will house a museum and a library dedicated to the 1971 Liberation War.
Sources revealed that the two Prime Ministers may discuss the issues of Teesta water sharing, Rohingya issue and cross-border terrorism. However, the vice-chancellor said that presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the meeting was unclear.
Mamata Banerjee had earlier made her stand clear on Teesta water sharing stating that she "would not compromise the interests of West Bengal".
It is nearly impossible for either Prime Ministers to ratify any water-sharing agreement without the consent of the West Bengal Chief Minister through whose state the Teesta waters flow into Bangladesh.
Vice-chancellor Sabujkoli Sen also said that Mamata Banerjee would be the first West Bengal Chief Minister since Siddhartha Shankar Roy of Congress to attend the convocation of the state's lone central university.
The ideas would also be shared by Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi with whom Mamata Banerjee shares a cold relation and have called him a 'BJP block president' in the past.
On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee and Sheikh Hasina are likely to meet on the sidelines of the convocation of Kazi Nazrul University in Asansol on May 26 where the Bangladesh Prime Minister will be awarded an honorary DLitt degree.