Bangladesh, India eye roadmap for ‘irreversible ties’

The foreign ministers of Bangladesh and India have asked their officials to develop a roadmap of bilateral cooperation that would make the partnership "irreversible".

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 8 Feb 2019, 12:31 PM
Updated : 8 Feb 2019, 01:51 PM

The agenda was stated in a joint statement issued after a meeting between AK Abdul Momen and Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi on Friday.

Partnership-building efforts should be enhanced to commensurate with 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence, said the statement following the fifth Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) meeting between the neighbours.

Three MoUs were signed during the meeting to enhance “multifaceted cooperation”, which includes an agreement on mid-career training for 1,800 Bangladeshi civil servants.

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health and Family Planning signed an agreement with India’s Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy for cooperation in the field of medicinal plants.

Two sides also signed an agreement for enhancing relations between Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation of India.

India’s Hiranandani Group signed an agreement with Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority to facilitate investments in the Indian Economic Zone in Mongla.

Photo via Twitter account of Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs

During the meeting, Swaraj congratulated Momen, who has replaced AH Mahmood Ali as foreign minister in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet following Awami League’s victory in the Dec 30 general election.

She appreciated her Bangladesh counterpart for choosing India as the destination of his first visit abroad as foreign minister, said the statement.

The relationship between the neighbours, forged through the 1971 war, was described by both ministers as going “beyond a strategic partnership”.

"Today it is anchored in history, culture, language and shared values of democracy, secularism, development cooperation and countless other commonalities," the statement read.

GAMUT OF MUTUAL INTERESTS

The ministers reviewed the implementation of decisions taken during the visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Hasina, as well as plans drafted in the last meeting of the JCC in October of 2017 in Dhaka.

Both countries, they said, are working “closer than ever before” in every sector, ranging from security and border management to mutually-beneficial trade and investment flows, power and energy, river water sharing, development partnership, transport connectivity, culture and people-to-people contacts.

The relationship was being broadened to include technology including space, nuclear energy, information technology and electronics.

The two top diplomats agreed on the need to expedite safe and sustainable repatriation of the displaced Rohingya people from Rakhine State of Myanmar.

On Thursday, Momen called on Modi. He conveyed the greetings of Hasina, and her appreciation for the fact that Prime Minister Modi was the first foreign leader to congratulate her upon her victory in the latest election.