Bangladesh and India concluded the 90th meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) in Kolkata on Saturday without announcing any formal decision despite growing expectations over the future of the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty.
The meeting ended around 7:00pm local time after nearly three and a half hours of discussions. However, officials from neither side spoke to journalists or disclosed details of the outcome. Delegates left the venue under strict security arrangements.
The latest meeting was considered particularly significant as it came ahead of the expiry of the current Ganges water-sharing agreement signed between the two neighbours in 1996. The treaty governs the dry-season sharing of water from the Ganges River at the Farakka Barrage and remains one of the most important frameworks of water cooperation between Bangladesh and India.
Diplomatic observers and river experts in both countries had expected the meeting to provide direction on the renewal of the treaty, which has long remained a sensitive issue in bilateral relations.
Although no official statement was issued after the talks, the possible renewal of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty reportedly remained at the centre of the discussions.
A six-member Bangladeshi delegation arrived in Kolkata on Wednesday to participate in the meeting. The delegation was led by Mohammad Anwar Kadir, member of the Joint Rivers Commission Bangladesh under the Ministry of Water Resources.
The Indian delegation was headed by Sharad Chandra, Commissioner (FM) at the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under India’s Ministry of Jal Shakti and member of the Joint Rivers Commission, India.
Ahead of the formal session, representatives from both countries jointly visited the Farakka Barrage and surrounding sections of the Ganges River on Thursday. The teams conducted inspections and joint flow measurements at the Bangladesh-India Joint Observation Site downstream of the barrage and at the feeder canal.
In a Facebook post, the Joint Rivers Commission Bangladesh confirmed that the 90th regular meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Committee on the implementation of the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty was held in Kolkata on May 22, 2026.
The commission also said both sides carried out joint monitoring and site inspections at Farakka before the official meeting.
The Farakka Barrage has remained a sensitive and politically important issue in Bangladesh-India relations for decades. In Bangladesh, concerns over reduced dry-season water flow are linked to agriculture, fisheries, biodiversity, river navigation and the livelihoods of millions living in downstream river-dependent communities.
With no official announcement from either side following the Kolkata talks, attention is now shifting toward future negotiations over the renewal of the treaty and wider cooperation on transboundary rivers shared by the two countries.
