AMN / NEW DELHI
India and Bangladesh will hold the next Home Secretary Level talks, Commerce Secretary Level talks and the Secretary Level Meeting of Joint Rivers Commission before the March 2021 Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. The decision was taken during the Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) between the two countries which took place in Delhi on Friday.
Both countries agreed to maintain the steady momentum of the bilateral cooperation and people to people ties. In this regard, the meeting noted with satisfaction the renewal of the Air Travel Bubble arrangement that will facilitate essential travel between the two sides.
The Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Anurag Srivastava said in a tweet that extensive discussions were held on the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation including joint commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation War and establishment of the diplomatic ties.
According to the press release issued by the MEA, the meeting reviewed the progress achieved in the bilateral relationship, including in the areas of Covid-19 cooperation, trade, connectivity, development partnership, power, energy and water resources, regional and multilateral cooperation as well as border management and security and defence cooperation. India and Bangladesh noted with appreciation the close cooperation on COVID 19 related issues including India’s gift of 2 million doses of vaccines to Bangladesh.
The preparation for the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka in March this year was also discussed during the FOC meeting.
In view of the importance of the 50th anniversary of the liberation war of Bangladesh and establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, both the countries decided to further strengthen the ongoing coordination to jointly commemorate these anniversaries.
Expressing satisfaction over the swift implementation of the Line of Credit (LOC) in the bilateral development partnership, India and Bangladesh stressed the need to increase the utilisation of funds and streamlining and expediting the approval processes.
The Indian side at the FOC was led by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla while Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Masud Bin Momen led the Bangladesh delegation.