Momen, Jaishankar meet on sidelines of CICA summit in Tajikistan

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has met his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the 5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia or CICA in Tajikistan.

This is the first meeting between the two leaders after Momen took over his charge five months back and former diplomat Jaishankar was made the external affairs minister last month.

The two ministers held a bilateral meeting at a hotel in Dushanbe on Friday. They expressed satisfaction over the existing relation and emphasised joint efforts to further deepen mutual trust and friendship between the two neighbours.

In the meeting, Momen drew Jaishankar’s attention to Bangladesh’s expectations about signing of a deal on sharing the Teesta River water and about stopping killings at the border areas. He also sought India's active support to resolve the Rohingya issue.

"India's external affairs minister assured Bangladesh of necessary cooperation in this regard and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has shown sympathy to the development of India's friendly relations with neighbouring countries," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Jaiashankar mentioned the importance of Bangladesh as the gateway to India's eastern economic diplomacy.

Momen also sought the cooperation of Jaiashankar in attracting Indian investment in almost 100 special economic zones in Bangladesh.