Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Dr. A K Abdul Momen and External Affairs Minister of India, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met in a bilateral meeting at the State Guest House, Jamuna today in a warm and cordial environment.
At the beginning, Bangladesh Foreign Minister congratulated the visiting dignitary on his appointment as the External Affairs Minister of India and welcomed his first visit to Bangladesh in this capacity. The two Ministers reaffirmed that the relationship between India and Bangladesh, forged in the 1971 Liberation War, goes far beyond a strategic partnership. Today it is anchored in history, culture, language and shared values of democracy, secularism, development cooperation and countless other commonalities.
During the meeting, the Ministers expressed satisfaction at the excellent state of bilateral relations existing between the two countries. They discussed the entire gamut of bilateral issues of mutual interest. They reviewed ongoing cooperation including the implementation of decisions taken during the last meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) in February 2019 in New Delhi. The Ministers expressed satisfaction that both countries are working closer than ever before in every sector, from security and border management, including reducing untoward border incidents, to mutually-beneficial trade and investment, power and energy, river water sharing, including that of the Teesta, development partnership, transport connectivity, culture and consular issues. They reviewed progress of the projects under the Indian Lines of Credit.
They also discussed the preparatory measures in relation to the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in October 2019, during which a number of MoUs are expected to be signed.
Both ministers expressed satisfaction that Bangladesh and India are enjoying traditionally close cooperation in multilateral and regional forums such as the UN, Commonwealth, BIMSTEC and others.
The EAM expressed appreciation for the humanitarian gesture of Bangladesh in supporting a large number of displaced persons from the Rakhine region of Myanmar and assured India’s continued support for safe, speedy and sustainable return of the Rohingyas to Myanmar.
Minister Jaishankaris scheduled to call on the Prime Minister at Ganabhaban later today. Earlier in the morning, the EAM visited the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum and paid his respects to Father of the Nation.
External Affairs Minister of India is on a 3-day visit to Bangladesh and will leave for India on 21 August 2019.