Bangladesh
JCC Meeting Dhaka and Delhi want to strengthen cooperation on common river and cyber security
Dhaka, June 21: Bangladesh and India have agreed to work more closely together on common rivers, water management, cyber-security, energy, agriculture, food security and climate change.
An agreement to this effect was signed at the seventh meeting of the Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) in New Delhi on Sunday. A joint statement on the outcome of the meeting was issued in the evening. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Indian Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar co-chaired the meeting held at Hyderabad House in the city.
This was the first physical meeting since the Covid-19 epidemic began. The previous meeting was held in 2020.
According to the meeting sources, due to heavy rains and mountain slopes, severe floods have occurred in Sylhet and Sunamganj of Bangladesh. Besides, new floods are also expected in the lower parts of Tangail, Munshiganj and Shariatpur districts. In this situation, India has offered assistance to Bangladesh in flood management and relief activities.
Momen and Jayashankar agreed to work together to deepen and strengthen cooperation in the areas of common river and water management, information technology and cyber security, renewable energy, agriculture and food security, sustainable trade, climate change and disaster management.
In his inaugural address at the 7th JCC meeting, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar offered assistance to Bangladesh in flood management and relief efforts. "I am just happy to be able to help," he said. "We would like to express our support and solidarity with the unprecedented floods in the northern part of Bangladesh. The floods are continuing in our northeast as well."
He noted that the two countries are now exchanging flood management information for an extended period of time. In addition, both sides are keen to strengthen cooperation in existing fields, as well as to enhance cooperation in artificial intelligence, cyber security, startups and fintech.
Last year, Indian President Ramnath Kobind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh. Many of the decisions taken during the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Bangladesh are unresolved or stuck.
The meeting discussed them in detail. In 2020, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual meeting. Some decisions were also taken there and their progress was also discussed in the meeting. The unresolved issues were also discussed at the sixth JCC meeting held virtually that year.
