Dhaka, Aug 18 – Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday night and discussed ways of strengthening cooperation between the two countries. “Yes, the meeting was held,” an Indian government source told UNB adding there has been a commitment from both sides to take forward the relations between the two countries.
However, there has been no briefing from the Prime Minister’s Office after the meeting.
Foreign Secretary Shringla is on a visit to Dhaka to discuss and take forward cooperation on matters of mutual interest, said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka soon after his arrival.
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen will have a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart on Wednesday.
“It’s not a sudden visit…India is our important neighbour. We’ve lots of interaction with India,” Foreign Secretary Masud said.
Shringla, who had served as Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, assumed the office of the Indian Foreign Secretary in January this year.
As the Foreign Secretary, he first visited Dhaka in March this year and met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
There has been a gap of bilateral visit between the two countries over the last few months due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
But the two countries were connected virtually and held many important discussions on various issues of mutual interest.
India has recently described its relations with Bangladesh as “exceptionally close” but expressed displeasure over “mischievous” story pertaining to Bangladesh-India ties.
“We’re confident that both sides appreciate mutual sensitivity and mutual respect building further on the relationship,” said Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava at a virtual weekly media briefing in New Delhi recently.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen termed the Bangladesh-India relations a ‘blood relationship’ while Bangladesh-China relations an ‘economic tie’.
Referring to Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar’s recent remarks, the MEA Spokesperson said India’s relationship with Bangladesh is a role model of good neighbourly ties in the region. – UNB
