Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh and India have discussed the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and other bilateral issues between the two countries.
The discussion took place when the visiting Indian Foreign Secretary, Subramanyam Jaishankar, met with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Md Shahidul Haque, at the State Guest House Padma in the city on Monday afternoon.
“We had a very good discussion,” Jaishankar told journalist at the Foreign Ministry after his 45-minute meeting with Shahidul Haque.
Briefing journalists, Shahidul Haque, quoting the Indian foreign secretary, said: “India attaches top priority to its next door neighbours.” Shankar has expressed India’s sincerity regarding the Teesta issue, he said, adding Bangladesh and India are hopeful about early implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).
Later in the afternoon, Jaishankar met with the Foreign Minister, AH Mahmood Ali, at the Foreign Office. After the meeting, he told reporters: “We want more cooperation. We had very successful and constructive meeting.”
Jaishankar said, “Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Bangladesh soon. India has positive attitude towards different issues, including Teesta Water Sharing Agreement.”
He added Bangladesh and India enjoy very good relationship and this will be strengthened in the future.
Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said Bangladesh has told India about its concern over not implementation of the Teesta Water Sharing Agreement. “India also wants to resolve the issue as it has been hanging over three years.”
Replying to a query, Shahidul Haque said the incumbent Indian government wants to strengthen relations with the neighbours. “India wants to resolve unsettled issues as it has taken initiative to develop the regional relationships.”
“The both countries agreed to expand cooperation in regional, sub-regional and international areas taking the bilateral ties to a ‘newer heights’ addressing problems in a broader way,” he said.
“As India has sought cooperation from us we told them that we are ready to cooperate. But, we want more cooperation from the Indian side,” he said.
He said the main message of his Indian counterpart is that the Modi government wants a deeper friendship with Bangladesh.
Jaishankar arrived in Dhaka from Bhutan at 11:45am by a special aircraft on a 24-hour official tour to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pankaj Saran received Jaishankar at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
He is expected to fly to Pakistan today (Tuesday) in the morning from here. The journey of Indian foreign secretary has been widely described as the “SAARC Yatra” (SAARC journey) by the Indian media.
On January 28 a day after US President Barack Obama left India after a three-day tour, the Modi government replaced foreign secretary Sujatha Singh, with Jaishankar, who was India’s Ambassador to US during that time.
It is to be noted that the LBA is expected to be tabled in the Indian Parliament for clearance. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured Dhaka of her support for the Teesta deal during her visit to Dhaka on February 19-21.
Diplomatic sources in Dhaka and New Delhi also said that Jaishankar would initiate discussion with the government high-ups on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka.
Jaishankar’s visit to the region comes at a time when India is pushing ahead with a sub-regional connectivity project with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to provide easier transit of passenger, personal and cargo vehicles among the four SAARC countries.
