Bangladesh
Bangladesh-India India stood by us, stands by us: Foreign Minister
Dhaka, Jan 16: Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud said that India was and is by Bangladesh's side to protect democratic continuity.
India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma came to pay a courtesy call on the minister on Monday. The minister said this after the meeting.
Hasan Mahmud said, "The Indian High Commissioner came to meet me mainly as a courtesy. This is the first meeting with an ambassador as a foreign minister. We have discussed various issues. Connectivity issues, border haats, expansion of trade, especially through exchange of Indian rupees and Bangladeshi taka have been talked about further expansion of our trade. The exchange of rupees and rupees has already started. A little trade has also taken place."
The minister said, "There was talk about how to expand and popularize it, to make it known to everyone. If that happens, our dependence on the dollar or other currencies will decrease, India's will also decrease. Expansion of trade between the two countries will be helpful. We also talked about increasing the connection between the people of the two countries."
Joint general secretary of Awami League said that using Chittagong and Mongla ports to take Indian products to North-Eastern states is a long-standing issue.
"We are working on this long-standing issue. Now somewhat, we have discussed the progress of building infrastructure to expand it further. I also talked about the policy framework. There are some minor issues, once they are done, the goods will be transported through Ramgarh and Akhaura using Chittagong port," he added.
When asked whether there was any discussion on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (SEP), the minister said that there was no such discussion today. However, our trade expansion has been discussed in detail.
When asked whether any post-election issues were discussed, he said, "A fair, transparent and impartial election was held in the country. There were many obstacles in this election. Arson has been carried out in the country. On January 5, a family was set on fire inside a train by throwing a petrol bomb. Other people have also been killed. These were done to disrupt the elections."
He said that these issues have been discussed with the Indian High Commissioner.
