India, Bangladesh looking to resume cross-border bus, train services after Eid: EAM Jaishankar

By Mir Afroz Zaman Dhaka, April 29 (Represntative) India and Bangladesh are looking to resume cross-border bus and railway services shortly after Eid, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Dhaka on Thursday as he called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and handed over an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to visit India. Jaishankar, who arrived in Dhaka in the afternoon at the head of a high-level delegation including Foreign Secretary-designate Vijay Mohan Kwatra, called on the Bangladesh Prime Minister at Ganobhaban at 4 pm (local time). In a tweet, he said: “Thank Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her warm reception. Conveyed personal greetings of PM @narendramodi. “Our bilateral relations are moving from strength to strength under the guidance of the two leaders.” On his talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart, he tweeted: “Positive discussions with Bangladesh FM Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen. “Agreed that our close neighbourly partnership is progressing steadily. Our shared endeavour would be to take it forward. “Looking forward to hosting him for the Joint Consultative Commission.” Later, addressing the media along with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, he said “This afternoon, I had the privilege to call on the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. I have conveyed to her the personal greetings and good wishes of Prime Minister Modi and also conveyed that we look forward to her visit to India at a time of her convenience.

We discussed a number of issues. We reviewed bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues.” Jaishankar said that despite the challenges of Covid, the two sides have remained regularly in touch and made good progress in the bilateral relations. He said his visit is aimed at continuing the progress in deepening the engagement. “In view of our strong people-to-people connect, I am very pleased to note that our connectivity is today back to pre-Covid levels and we are looking at resuming cross-border bus and railway services, shortly after Eid.” “It is also a matter of satisfaction for us that trade, disbursement of loans on bilateral projects, travel services and investment are at new heights and that they have recovered the momentum which was lost during the Covid. In fact, the Covid itself taught us how important it was to have regional supply chains, value chains, so that whether it was essential commodities or oxygen or medicines or food, we could count on each other at this time of difficulty.” “We of course, hope to see early commissioning now of many projects including in power and energy sector, in connectivity so that all that we have done in the last few years can be taken forward. India also looks forward to a stronger sub-regional cooperation in connectivity and other areas. “The energy sector, particularly the hydropower domain offers opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between our countries in the region. India is a large producer and consumer of energy and we are very glad to work with our neighbors in that regard, including in the BBIN framework.

And I want to say that India will continue to take the lead to structure progressive partnerships for production, transmission and trade in our region in this area,” he added. The Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said that India is the most important neighbour for Bangladesh and the two countries have achieved remarkable progress in a number of areas. He said both sides have resolved many of the outstanding issues in a spirit of friendship and cooperation and expressed hope that the remaining outstanding issues, including the early signing of the Teesta water sharing treaty, may be concluded at an early date. He also sought the support of India for the speedy repatriation of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to their country of origin. Earlier, Jaishankar arrived at Bangabandhu Air Base at Kurmitola in Dhaka in the afternoon. He was welcomed by Foreign Minister Abdul Momen. In March last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the birth centenary and golden jubilee celebrations of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka. The President of India Ram Nath Kovind also visited Bangladesh in December last year. The visit of two top Indian leaders to Bangladesh in the same year is a unique example of the deep friendship between the two nations.