Bangladesh, May 30 -- India and Bangladesh have spent decades circling around the unresolved question of the Teesta River, a dispute that has steadily evolved from a regional water-sharing issue into a sensitive geopolitical challenge with implications far beyond South Asias riverbanks.

The recent political shift in West Bengal has once again revived hopes in Dhaka that the long-stalled Teesta agreement could finally move forward. For years, Bangladesh viewed the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal as the single biggest obstacle preventing a comprehensive treaty on the river. With the states political equation now altered, many in Bangladesh believe the path may finally be opening for a breakthrough.

Yet the reality surroundin...