Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla arrives in Dhaka on 2-day visit to boost ties with Bangladesh

Dhaka: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla arrived in Bangladesh on Tuesday on a brief visit during which he will discuss with his counterpart ways to boost bilateral ties and co-operation in containing the coronavirus pandemic.

This is Shringla’s second visit to Bangladesh after he took office as the foreign secretary. Earlier, he visited Bangladesh in March.

According to media reports, Shringla is expected to call on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to convey a “special message” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The visit is aimed at strengthening the ties between the two countries.

Hasina is expected to have a courtesy meeting with Shringla at Ganabhaban, her official residence. Shringla is likely to meet Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and his counterpart Masud Bin Momen.

“He is expected to have bilateral talks with our foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen on Wednesday,” a Bangladesh foreign ministry official said.

Both Bangladesh foreign office and the Indian high commission preferred to keep the visit as a low-key affair amid reports that this is Shringla’s first overseas tour since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Foreign Secretary of India is on a visit to Dhaka from August 18-19, 2020 to discuss and take forward cooperation on matters of mutual interest, the Indian High Commission said in a statement without elaboration.

Talking to reporters, Masud said that he was expecting to discuss various bilateral issues particularly regarding COVID-19 situation and prospective cooperation over access to coronavirus vaccine being developed by UK’s Oxford University.

“We have been discussing with everyone about the availability of probable COVID-19 vaccines … so we will also discuss it (regarding access to vaccine) with the Indian side as well,” Masud was quoted as saying as bdnews24.com.

He said that he would make the offer in his meeting with Shringla on Wednesday.

Developed in collaboration with British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, Oxford University’s vaccine candidate is leading the race for a vaccine seen as the only viable option to get the world out of the coronavirus pandemic.

The vaccine is undergoing final stage trials in different countries. Serum Institute is also set to begin trials of the vaccine in India this week.

Foreign Secretary Momen said Bangladesh has also communicated with Britain’s AstraZeneca via the High Commission in London with the offer for the trial to be held in Bangladesh, which has recorded 282,344 coronavirus cases and 3,740 deaths from the disease.

It is also trying different ways to secure a vaccine, the website reported.

“Different vaccine producers in India are dealing with the commercial sides of the vaccine. This is the reason driving our efforts. We are in discussion with different countries that have developed vaccines, be it the Americans or Oxford, he said.

“They are trialling the vaccines in India. We will have the discussion [with India] as part of our efforts to get quick access to all of those. We will discuss how we can cooperate with all, he said.

The government will go for the vaccine that will appear as the safest and most efficient, the foreign secretary added.

A diplomatic source here indicated that the Indian foreign secretary, who was earlier India’s High Commissioner here, will discuss ways to strengthen the bond between the two countries in the days to come, The Dhaka Tribune reported.

India recently described its relationship with Bangladesh as “exceptionally close”, but expressed displeasure over “mischievous” stories pertaining to Bangladesh-India ties, the paper said.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Momen has described Bangladesh-India ties as a “blood relationship” and Bangladesh-China relations as “economic ties,” it said.

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