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Momen for working with India to avoid flood damages

UNB . Dhaka
19 Jun 2022 17:48:17 | Update: 19 Jun 2022 19:20:27
Momen for working with India to avoid flood damages
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen — File Photo

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has emphasised working with India and developing a better system for water management and regulations to avoid flood damages.

"We have to work together; we have 54 rivers that come from India to Bangladesh. And right now when I am talking, I have a devastating flood in my own constituency in Sylhet. It came from Assam and Meghalaya," he told WION in an interview in New Delhi Saturday.

Momen said they would like to share their expertise and data so that they have an early warning about this sort of disaster.

"Before Pakistan was created, we used to have floods, but not as devastating as we have now," he said.

People wade along a road in a flooded area following heavy monsoon rainfalls in Companiganj, Sylhet on June 19, 2022 — AFP Photo

The foreign minister is now in Delhi to co-chair the seventh meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar Sunday.

During his conversation with WION, Momen said he would discuss the Rohingya issue with Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar.

"If Bangladesh, India and Myanmar work together, we can resolve it. We can have a sustainable solution to it."

ALSO READ: Sylhet flood victims hit hard by food and drinking water crisis

Sunday's JCC meeting will be the first such physical meeting of the mechanism since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the previous edition taking place virtually in 2020.

Momen said they have been supportive of Sri Lanka during the financial difficulty.

"We provided funding of around $250 million, food, a gift of 25,000 tonnes of potato, and a few thousand tonnes of medicines. And we are ready to help them as much as we can."

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