Bangladesh and India have held "comprehensive discussions" on a wide range of issues covering border and security, trade, commerce and connectivity, cooperation in water, power and energy sectors, people to people ties and development cooperation.
Both sides also exchanged views on sub-regional, regional and multilateral issues at the Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) held in New Delhi on Friday.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen led the Bangladesh delegation while the Indian delegation was led by its Foreign Secretary inay Mohan Kwatra at historic Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
FOC is an institutional dialogue mechanism between the two foreign secretaries to review the entire gamut of bilateral relationship.
The Indian side appreciated Bangladesh’s participation in the recently held Virtual G20 summit and the Voice of Global South Summit 2.0, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, India.
This was the second FOC this year, while the first one was held in February in Dhaka.
At the Foreign Office Consultations, the two countries usually discuss all the major issues of mutual interests to promote cooperation encompassing all sectors.
Foreign Secretary Masud raised some key issues, among others, the early conclusion of the Teesta agreement and other water-sharing treaties of common rivers, removing trade barriers from Bangladesh’s exportable goods and uninterrupted supply of essential commodities between the two countries, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary requested his counterpart to deepen and expand the people-to-people contacts.
He also sought India’s assistance in resolving the Rohingya crisis.
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary thanked the Government of India for inviting Bangladesh Prime Minister to attend the “G20 Leaders’ Summit “as the only South Asian leader under India’s G20 Presidency.
Both the foreign secretaries expressed satisfaction over the existing bilateral relations and the progress made in the year 2023.
Referring to the recent inauguration of number of projects for enhancing connectivity and power and energy sector cooperation by the two Prime Ministers, they said that this sort of cooperation reflects the tangible outcomes of the strong bilateral relations.
The two foreign secretaries further emphasized bolstering cooperation in important areas such as development, trade and commerce, regional connectivity, regional power grid connection, security and water related issues, and consular and cultural issues.
They also discussed addressing the challenges to be faced by Bangladesh during the post-graduation scenario.
Both sides reiterated that the two border guard forces should continue their cooperation to have a peaceful border.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra termed Bangladesh as a trusted neighbour and expressed satisfaction on the excellent bilateral relations that exist between the two countries.
He appreciated the participation of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh at the recently held virtual meetings of the Global South and G20.
He assured the commitment of the leadership to further strengthen the relationship with Bangladesh.
He emphasized maintaining stability in the region.
The FOC serves as a key platform for holding a comprehensive discussion with a view to reviewing various bilateral issues and also exploring the new avenues of mutual interests for the greater benefits of the two peoples.
It was agreed that the next FOC will be hosted in Bangladesh on a mutually convenient date.
The foreign secretary will return to Dhaka on 25 November 2023.
