Bangladesh, India foreign secretaries take stock of bilateral relations

The foreign secretaries of Bangladesh and India have held a meeting in New Delhi for the first time since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh last June.

The foreign ministry in a statement said the meeting on Monday took stock of the joint declaration issued during Modi’s visit and both sides expressed “satisfaction at the progress of its implementation so far”.

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque is on a two-day bilateral visit to New Delhi at the invitation of his counterpart S Jaishankar.

Spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry Vikash Swarup earlier tweeted: “building the partnership w/another close neighbour. The Foreign Secretaries of India & Bangladesh hold talks.”

In a briefing, he said, “This is an opportunity to expand multi-sectoral cooperation with Bangladesh.”

The Dhaka-New Delhi relationship is termed at its best now with a “landmark” year of 2015 when the decades-old land-boundary agreement issue was settled.

During Modi’s visit to Bangladesh, the Indian prime minister together with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina adopted the joint declaration "Notun Projonmo, Nayi Disha" expressing their visions for taking this relationship forward.

Twenty-two agreements were signed and exchanged during the visit.

However, the Teesta river water-sharing issue remains a thorn in the relations.

The foreign secretary is scheduled to meet India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Special Secretary of Water Resources Ministry Amarjit Singhon Tuesday.