DHAKA, March 23, 2021 (BSS) – Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen today said
Nepal is willing to export its hydropower to Bangladesh.
“President Bhandari has urged Bangladesh to import hydropower from Nepal,”
he told a press conference on ‘The outcomes of Nepalese President Bidya Devi
Bhandari’s visit to Bangladesh’ held at Foreign Service Academy here.
The foreign minister said the meetings of the secretary-level steering
committee and the executive committee on power generation and distribution
have already been held under a memorandum of understating (MoU) signed
between Bangladesh and Nepal in 2018 aiming to enhance cooperation in
hydropower.
He said both the parties hope that they will enhance cooperation in
hydropower sector in the future.
Momen said Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari arrived in Dhaka
yesterday on the occasion of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the country’s
independence.
During her visit, he said, President Bhandari met Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina on Monday evening.
“During the meeting, she praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, terming her
the most inspiring woman leader and role model in the world,” the Bangladesh
foreign minister said.
He said the issue of signing the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)
between Bangladesh and Nepal is at final stage now and once the deal is
signed, bilateral trade will increase manifolds.
Momen said during the Nepalese President’s visit to Dhaka, four instruments
– MoU on Tourism Cooperation, MoU on Strengthening Sanitary and Phytosanitary
(SPS) Cooperation, Cultural Exchange Programme for the year of 2022-2025 and
Letter of Exchange on Rohanpur-Sighabad Railway Route – were signed between
the two friendly countries.
He said Nepal has shown its interest to use the Chattogram, Mongla and
Payra seaports of Bangladesh and both the countries have agreed to finalise
modalities to this end. Nepal has also showed interest to use the inland
shipping network of Bangladesh and to introduce direct air connectivity
between Saidpur of Bangladesh and Biratnagar of Nepal, he said.
The foreign minister said: “To implement the BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement
signed among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan in 2015, the possibility of
including new routes in BBIN along with the existing ones is being examined.”
Mentioning that Bangladesh and India have already agreed to sign the
passenger protocol, he said: “We hope that Nepal will give its consent soon
to this end.”
Momen said it has been feared that the low-laying Bangladesh would bear the
brunt of glacier melting in Nepal’s Himalaya induced by global warning.
In this context, he said, Bangladesh and Nepal agreed to work together in
climate change issues at international forums, including the Climate
Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and the United Nations.
The foreign minister said Nepal was urged to provide support and
cooperation to Bangladesh in repatriation of forcibly displaced Rohingyas to
their homes of origins in Myanmar.