Dhaka, 29 January – The Foreign Secretary level talks between Bangladesh and India was held today at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Bangladesh delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen and Indian side was led by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla. High level officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh formed the Bangladesh delegation. The Indian delegation consisted of representatives from the Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs, Commerce and Industry, Jal Shakti and Finance.
Both sides held detailed discussions on the wide-ranging areas of ongoing cooperation between the two countries. They discussed preparations for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka in March 2021 in connection with the celebration of Mujib Borsho and commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s Independence and Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations. They also discussed joint celebration of the anniversaries in select capitals of the world. As a run up to the Summit, they agreed to work towards holding a number of meetings under the various cooperation mechanisms between the two countries, including the Home Secretary Level Talks, Commerce Secretary Level Talks, Water Secretary Level Talks, Shipping Secretary Level Talks and meeting of the Joint Group of Customs, among others.
Bangladesh thanked the Indian side for inviting a 122 member tri-services contingent from Bangladesh Armed Forces for participation in the 72nd Republic Day parade. Bangladesh also expressed gratitude to the Government of India for nominating two distinguished Bangladeshis for receiving the Padma Shri awards this year.
COVID-19 related cooperation was discussed and Bangladesh thanked India for the timely support, particularly in the area of vaccines. Bangladesh Foreign Secretary also noted that the first 5 million doses of the 30 million vaccines, being procured by Bangladesh had reached Bangladesh and expected that the remaining amount would follow according to schedule.
Underscoring the interdependent nature of the economies of the two countries, Bangladesh side reiterated its request to India for addressing the various non-tariff barriers on export of goods from Bangladesh to India and also to simplify customs procedures. Thanking India for championing connectivity initiatives in the region, Bangladesh requested early operationalisation of the Motor Vehicle Agreement under the framework of Bangladesh-India-Nepal (BIN) to start with.
Bangladesh also requested India to consider allowing use of new land and rail routes and land ports via India for facilitating connectivity between Bangladesh and Nepal as well as Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Noting the efficacy of the Air Bubble arrangements in the COVID-19 situation, both sides welcomed extension of Air Bubble flights between Bangladesh and India until 30 April or resumption of regular flights, whichever is earlier.
Expeditious implementation of the projects under Lines of Credit was discussed. Both sides expressed satisfaction at the newly established high-level monitoring mechanism which held its first meeting earlier this month.
Bangladesh side flagged the need to streamline issues such as project approval process, raw material sourcing, banking requirements, calculation of grace period etc.
Bangladesh reiterated the request for signing of the Teesta Water Sharing Agreement. Indian side assured that the matter is under consideration and also conveyed the proposal to work towards concluding the framework agreement of the sharing of waters of the six rivers, prioritised earlier.
The two Foreign Secretaries discussed the need for increased cooperation between Border Forces with a view to bringing down border killings to zero. They also noted with satisfaction the holding of the 2nd round of Consular Dialogue between the two countries day before. Easing consular issues would encourage greater people to people contacts which is at the core of excellent ties between the two countries.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen requested a deeper engagement of India for creating a conducive environment in the Rakhine state for a sustainable return of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary met the Indian EAM and handed him a letter from the Bangladesh Foreign Minister requesting for Bangladesh’s inclusion in the India Myanmar Thailand Trilateral Highway initiative.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen will be delivering a Talk at the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service in New Delhi tomorrow. – PID handout
