Jaishankar leaves Dhaka after inviting PM Hasina to visit India

S Jaishankar has left Dhaka ending his first visit after he took over as the India’s external affairs minister.

During the visit, he handed over an invitation letter of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India in Oct and held bilateral talks with his counterpart AK Abdul Momen to take the relations to “higher level”.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam saw him off at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Wednesday morning.

It has been a courtesy visit from his side as he took charge on May 31.

After the bilateral talks on Tuesday, Jaishankar said that Bangladesh wanted to hear from him such as Teesta water sharing and citizenship exercise in Assam.

 “Our partnership with Bangladesh remains an example what neighbours can do together,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “determined” to ensure partnership remains a “role model” in South Asia, he added.

Bangladesh and India relations is now said to be the best of all time. Over 100 agreements have been signed in the last 10 years, with 68 of them having been penned in the last three years alone.

The decades-old land boundary as well as maritime issues has been resolved. But the equitable share of Teesta river water remains the thorny issue.

There are serious concerns in Bangladesh about the National Register of Citizens in the neighbouring state of Assam as the media reports four million people risk losing their citizenships because of the test.

“This is an internal matter for India,” Jaishankar replied immediately in response to a question.

On Teesta, he said New Delhi still holds the commitment it has given to Bangladesh and that position does not change, indicating central government’s previous position that it is ready to sign the deal once the West Bengal government agrees to it.

But on overall water sharing, he said: “We look forward to making progress to find a mutually acceptable formula from 54 shared rivers. We’re ready to make a start wherever possible.”

On Rohingya issue, he said their safe, speedy and sustainable return is also in the national interest of India along with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The foreign ministry said both minsters also discussed the preparatory measures in relation to the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in October, during which memoranda of understanding are expected to be signed.