India FM Jaishankar arrives in Dhaka to finalise itinerary of Modi’s visit

S Jaishankar, the external affairs minister of India, has arrived in Dhaka to prepare the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to celebrate 50 years of Bangladesh’s independence.

A special flight carrying the minister reached the Bangabandhu Air Base in Dhaka at 10 am on Thursday. He was greeted by his counterpart AK Abdul Momen upon arrival.

The two ministers will hold a bilateral meeting at the state guest house Padma at 12:15 pm. Jaishankar is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the afternoon.

He will later attend a function at Bharat Bhavan at 5 pm and leave Dhaka afterwards.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam told the media on Wednesday that the two sides will discuss ways to take their partnership forward, especially in connectivity, beside the celebration.

"We have planned some programmes from Mar 17 to 26 as part of the ongoing Mujib Year celebrations and to mark the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence," the state minister said.

"The Indian premier is likely to pay a visit to take part in the celebrations. Every visit raises our expectations to discuss at least the complicated issues and move forward. The Indian prime minister will visit Bangladesh on that note."

Cooperation in connectivity will be the major focus during Modi's visit, according to Shahriar.

"A new chapter will open in the connectivity sector. A new train service is likely to be introduced and we hope the relevant ministry will make the final announcement soon."

Besides, discussions will be held on important issues of regional cooperation, he said.

“COVID-19 has created not only a health emergency but also an economic emergency. The developed countries have been going through a major economic crisis which may leave a strong impact on the supplier countries like ours.

“We get a large number of raw materials from India that helps our export sector and will continue to do so in the future.

In that case, we need to discuss how to overcome the hurdles in importing the raw materials.”

There has been ‘progress’ in the discussions over river water sharing, which was lingering for a long time, but Dhaka does not expect a final decision during the visit of the external affairs minister of India, said Alam.

Those issues will be kept for the prime ministers’ meeting due in a few days. The Teesta Water contract is a priority issue for Bangladesh, the state minister added.

For both countries, the agenda includes discussions on ‘comprehensive economic partnership.’ Earlier, the premiers decided to run a joint feasibility study on the issue.

Shahriar also highlighted the possibility of discussions on removing the hurdles in commerce and transit as well as opening pathways to new sectors.

“Bangladesh has already received the recommendation to graduate to the bracket of developing countries. Regional cooperation to propel our economy in the next three to six years is not a new agenda.”

“We had an internal challenge regarding the transit issue which we overcame under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”

India has recently allowed Bangladesh’s transports to travel to Bhutan and Nepal directly. “It’s a big achievement for us,” Shahriar said.

The construction of a ‘petrapol’ is ‘almost done’ at India’s Dowki and Bangladesh’s Tamabil, he said, adding those will ensure comprehensive partnership in trade enhancement of economic activities.

Shahriar was also asked about the neighbouring countries’ plans to introduce a new land port and keeping it open for 24 hours.

“We’ll review the issue constantly. India feels that its export is being affected. Our export business is affected too,” the state minister said in reply.

“We’ll discuss which border can remain open and how to increase the number of flights.”

To enhance its trade and business ties, Bangladesh has moved to open a deputy high commission in Chennai, said Shahriar Alam. “We received the final approval for it and completed the official procedures to designate an official of the foreign ministry,” he said.