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Bangladesh foreign secretary in India to discuss PM Modi’s visit, bilateral ties
Masud Bin Momen has arrived on a three-day visit during which he will co-chair foreign office consultations and hold discussions to prepare for PM Modi’s Dhaka visit on March 26
Bangladesh foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen arrived in India on Thursday for a three-day visit, during which he will co-chair foreign office consultations and hold discussions to prepare for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Dhaka.
Ahead of his departure, Momen told reporters in Dhaka that the sharing of cross-border rivers, including the Teesta, a planned meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission and the repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar would be on his agenda. The two sides are also expected to discuss a visit by home minister Amit Shah to Dhaka.
The foreign office consultations, to be held on Friday, are expected to focus on all aspects of bilateral relations, including trade, connectivity and energy cooperation. Momen said a number of agreements are likely to be signed after the consultations but didn’t give details.
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Momen and his Indian counterpart Harsh Shringla will also discuss Modi’s scheduled visit to Dhaka on March 26 to participate in celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence and 50 years of diplomatic relations with India.
“We will discuss all the bilateral issues we have on our plate right now…we will also follow up the joint declaration made after the PM-level virtual summit last month,” Momen told reporters on Wednesday.
He said Bangladesh wants to hear “positive news” on the sharing of the waters of the Teesta river. “The ball is in India’s court. We will surely want to see that it gets resolved. We know the Indian central government and state government are yet to fully agree on Teesta,” he said.
A planned bilateral agreement on sharing the waters of the Teesta has been held up by objections from the government of West Bengal, with chief minister Mamata Banerjee contending such a pact will affect water supplies in the dry season.
A joint statement issued after the virtual summit between Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina on December 17 said the Bangladesh side had stressed the early signing of an interim agreement on Teesta waters, as agreed by both countries in 2011.
During the virtual summit, India and Bangladesh signed seven agreements in areas ranging from hydrocarbons to agriculture and revived a cross-border railway line that was snapped 55 years, giving a boost to connectivity initiatives and energy cooperation.
Modi, in his opening remarks at the summit, described Bangladesh as an important pillar of India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy.
The two sides have closely cooperated to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, and India recently provided two million doses of Covishield vaccine as grant assistance to Bangladesh. Another five million doses were rolled out this week from the 30 million doses Bangladesh has contracted for with the Serum Institute of India.
Momen will deliver a lecture at the Indian Foreign Service training academy on January 30 and meet Delhi-based ambassadors concurrently accredited to Bangladesh before returning on Sunday.
