, Oct. 8 -- Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee Thursday expressed hope that a new Ganges water sharing treaty with India would be signed before December 12 this year.

"Restoring the guarantee clause, as in the 1977 agreement, is one of Bangladesh's top priorities in the new treaty," Anee told reporters after a seminar titled "Rethinking the Future of Water: Youth Leadership, Justice and Cooperation," organised by Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS).

The minister said the existing 30-year agreement would expire on December 12. "A five-year agreement signed in 1977 during the tenure of then president Ziaur Rahman contained a guarantee clause but the provision was dropped when the new treaty...