DHAKA, July 14: Participants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal in a regional conference on Wednesday criticised India for its unilateral approach to the region, while the Indian participants defended their country.
Criticising India for not discussing the river-linking project with the lower riparian countries, the former chief justice of Bangladesh, Justice Mustafa Kamal, recommended a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice if New Delhi went ahead with the mega-project.
"By giving the verdict of implementing the river linking project by 2016, the Supreme Court of India will force smaller countries to go to the International Court of Justice," said the former chief justice.
The former chief justice spoke as chairman of a session at the two-day conference on "The Twelfth SAARC Summit: Momentum for Regional Cooperation and Development in South Asia" organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.
"We suffer a lot because of the Farakka Barrage but we don't want to suffer more. India built it without consulting the lower riparian country and now New Delhi is going ahead with the mega-project," he added.
Referring to New Delhi's dominant attitude towards its neighbours, Justice Mustafa Kamal said, "India is appropriating the industrial potential of small neighbours."
Asserting that he is against the controversial river-linking project, senior Indian columnist Prem Shankar Jha said, "the goal of the project is to increase the storage capacity of India's water resources as well as trap monsoon water. Presently India is capable of storing only 13 per cent of its water."
Kanak Mani Dixit, editor of Himal South Asia, said, "India's river linking project will lead to an enormous backlash in the region. A senior officer of the Pakistan army, Javed Iqbal, said, "India grabs the potential of its neighbours. It has now become a threat in both security and economic perspectives."
O.P.Shah, chairperson of the Kolkata-based Centre for Peace and Progress, said, "Most of the SAARC members feel that India behaves like a big brother. But India's perception is that it does not."
