New Delhi, 6 Sept: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday received his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Hasina, who is on a four-day visit to India, said that people’s federation and poverty are her main focus.
The Bangladeshi PM added that she’s expecting India’s cooperation as “any problem can be solved through friendship and Bangladesh is always indebted to India”.
During her visit, Hasina is likely to sign up to seven agreements across the spheres of water management, railway, science and technology, and information and broadcasting with the Indian leadership.
Ahead of her formal meeting with PM Modi, Bangladesh Prime Minister met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday, to discuss the entire gamut of the bilateral relationship.
On Monday, external affairs minister S Jaishankar called on the Bangladeshi prime minister.
“Delighted to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh this evening. The warmth and frequency of our leadership level contacts is a testimony to our close neighbourly partnership,” Jaishankar tweeted.
During an informal interaction with a group of reporters on the sidelines of a reception hosted for her by the Bangladesh High Commission, Hasina talked about India’s role in resolving the issue of Rohingya refugees, which she, in a recent interview, called a big burden on Bangladesh. She said that India can do a lot to help her country deal with the issue.
The visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister is scheduled to meet PM Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, today.
During her stay, she will also call on President Droupadi Murmu and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Both India and Bangladesh are expected to sign an interim bilateral agreement on water sharing of the Kushiyara river following talks between the two leaders.
The Rohingya issue and the security scenario in the Chittagong region are expected to feature in the bilateral talks between PM Modi and Ms. Hasina today.
Beside that, Water-sharing is a key issue for Bangladesh. Ahead of her visit, Hasina in an interview asked India to “should show more broadness” on the issue as it’s an upstream country.
India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, of which seven were identified earlier for developing a framework of water-sharing agreements on priority, according to a report by news agency PTI.
The text of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was finalised at the 38th ministerial-level meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) held in Delhi on August 25. The commission was constituted in 1972 as a bilateral mechanism to address issues of mutual interest on common rivers.
Sources informed that both sides have started moving on defence-related agreements, including portable and prefabricated bridges that increase mobility for the armed forces during disaster relief and in conflict scenario.
A major focus is also on the power sector. Bangladesh is buying 1,160 MW of power from India and this is expected to go up in the coming period. It is understood that both sides will review the status of power projects that are currently being developed. The construction of India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline that will export diesel from Siliguri to Parbatipur is likely to be completed soon.
- Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, Follow via Twitter @shahidsiddiqui
