No plans for Indo- Bhutan joint panel to check floods: Centre to TMC query

The Trinamul Congress MPs have been asking relevant questions to the Centre on different issues.

In the series, the Diamond Harbour MP, Abhishek Banerjee asked on the current status of Indo-US trade in the Lok Sabha, while Ritabrata Banerjee in the RS asked the status of Indo-Bhutan river commission.

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In the Lok Sabha TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee in an unstarred question (No. 3832) on India-US trade negotiations to the minister of commerce and industry, had asked about the current status of the India–US bilateral trade negotiations and by when a framework agreement is expected to be concluded.

The minister of state in the ministry of commerce and industry Jitin Prasada replied: “The India-US bilateral trade agreement negotiations were launched in March 2025. Five rounds of negotiations have been held, the last being from 14-18 July at Washington, USA.”

Elaborating further, the minister said that reciprocal tariff at the rate of 25 per cent has been imposed on certain goods exported from India to the USA starting from 7 August. It is estimated that around 55 per cent of total value of India’s merchandise exports to the US is subjected to this reciprocal tariff. The government reply also stated that a combination of different factors such as product differentiation, demand, quality, contractual arrangements would determine the impact of reciprocal tariffs on India’s exports including in textiles sector.

In reply to a starred question No. 235 in the Rajya Sabha regarding “formation of Indo-Bhutan river commission by Trinamul Congress MP Ritabrata Banerjee, the Centre has said that there is no such proposal under consideration to form an Indo-Bhutan River Commission.

The reply from the Jal Shakti minister C R Paatil stated that to look into the concern of trans-border rivers flowing from Bhutan and entering Assam and West Bengal and leading to recurring floods and erosion in the border areas and the adjoining plains in India, both the countries have entered into bilateral cooperation on flood related issues, which consist of a Joint Group of Experts (JGE) & a Joint Technical Team (JTT) on flood management and a Joint Experts Team (JET) on flood forecasting. These expert groups meet at regular intervals to discuss issues related to trans-border rivers.

“A Joint Experts Team (JET) consisting of senior officials from GoI and RGoB continuously reviews the progress and other requirements of this network. So far, JET has met 38 times alternately in India and Bhutan since its reconstitution in 1992 and the last JET meeting i.e. 38th meeting was held at Mandarmani, West Bengal during 10-11 December, 2024,” the letter mentioned.