Chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee on Friday had a one-to-one meeting with the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for about one hour and at the end of the meeting Miss Banerjee told the media they had fruitful discussions on wide ranging issues.

Sharing of Teesta water remains a thorny issue for Ms Hasina, while Miss Banerjee has been evasive about signing of the Teesta agreement that has been hanging fire since 2001.

“It was a fruitful discussion and we have discussed different issues like business, education, culture in a very friendly environment. We want improvement in ties between India and Bangladesh. Both the countries will have to come forward to build this relationship. I don’t know whether there is political boundary between the two countries,” Miss Banerjee said.

Miss Banerjee declined to make any comment when reporters asked her whether the issue of sharing of Teesta waters has been discussed in the meeting.

But diplomats in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) felt that the issue might have been raised in the one-hour-long discussion between the two leaders because Bangladesh is to hold general elections in December this year.

The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission office in Kolkata had earlier proposed to the state government for a one-to-one meeting between Mamata and Hasina during the latter’s two-day visit to Bengal, an official of the MEA said.

Interestingly, a joint secretary of the MEA was seen standing beside the chief minister while she was speaking to the media. Sources in the ministry said that some officials of both countries were present during the first five to ten minutes of the meeting between the two leaders.

Ms Hasin did not make any comment when the media asked her about the agendas in the meeting. She left for Bangladesh tonight.

“I had good ties with Hasina’s family since before she was even the Prime Minister of the country. The Bangladesh government has proposed us to set up a museum in memory of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, founding father of Bangladesh on Theatre Road in Kolkata where he had spent a significant period of his life. The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission has proposed the site of Aurobindo Bhavan on Theatre Road. We will do it if the two countries reach an agreement,” the Bengal chief minister said.