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The foreign minister said Bangladesh also showed its willingness to
join the under planned road link from India to Thailand via Myanmar.
“India had proposed Bangladesh to be connected this regional road
network earlier but the then prime minister Khaleda Zia denied to
join,” Momen said, adding that the present government believe more
regional connectivity means more trade.
He said Bangladesh and India discussed ways of cooperation to
expand transportation solutions within the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India and Nepal) region. “We want to see our goods-laden trucks enter
Bhutan and Nepal. We want more connectivity,” he added.
Momen said Bangladesh has appreciated India for resuming flight
operations under special arrangement but proposed India to open up
rail and road communications so that people can resume visiting India
on a larger scale.
The minister said Dhaka proposes to sell electricity to India and
with their cooperation to third countries like Bhutan and Nepal, when
Bangladesh produces excess electricity.
The foreign minister said Sheikh Hasina urged her counterpart to
expedite implementation of projects under the Indian Line of Credit
(LoC).
“We have already formed a committee including Bangladesh ERD
secretary and Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh to monitor
projects under the Indian credit line,” he said.
Dr Momen said India propose Bangladesh to join a development bank
under BRIC (a development coalition comprising Brazil, Russia, India
and China) while Dhaka agreed to the proposal.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina proposed the Indian side to consider
Bangladesh’s proposal to name the historic road from Mujib Nagar to
Nodia on Bangladesh-India border as “Shadhinota Shorok” commemorating
the historic significance of the road during Bangladesh’s Liberation
War.
The foreign minister said India showed keen interest to celebrate
Birth Centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman and Bangladesh 50 years of Independence jointly with Dhaka
globally.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina thanked Modi for accepting her
invitation to visit Bangladesh in person in March 2021 to join the
celebrations on the occasion of 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s
Independence and 50 years of Bangladesh-India diplomatic relations.
In his briefing, the Indian High commissioner said New Delhi’s
leadership believes Bangladesh is one of the most important pillars in
the Indian foreign policy.
“No relation is as important for us as Bangladesh,” Doraiswami said
at Indin High Commission in the capital just after ending of the
virtual summit.
About the water sharing of common rivers including Teesta, he said
the Indian side shared their circumstance with Bangladesh during the
meeting.
Replying a question about Rohingya crisis, the envoy said the
Indian side informed Bangladesh that New Delhi is working hard to
convince Myanmar to create conducive environment in Rakhine for
ensuring a stable repatriation.
“There is no gap between us (India and Bangladesh) in this
particular (Rohingya) issue,” he said.
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