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Regional Communications: Bangladesh stresses on the need to use Indian territory Bangladesh-India
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Regional Communications: Bangladesh stresses on the need to use Indian territory

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 28 Mar 2021, 03:33 pm

Dhaka, March 26, 2021: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought the cooperation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in establishing direct road links with Nepal and Bhutan as well as Thailand.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen made the remarks at a press conference after a bilateral meeting between the two heads of government at the Prime Minister's Office in Dhaka on Saturday.

He said the two leaders attached special importance to the speedy signing of a 'Trilateral Enabling MoU' between Bangladesh, India and Nepal to implement the BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement. Bangladesh wants greater access to Nepal and Bhutan using Indian territory. Therefore, Bangladesh has requested India to approve some new routes.

He hoped that if this initiative is implemented, the distance, time and cost of transporting goods from Bangladesh to Nepal will be greatly reduced and Bangladesh's export capacity will increase.

He said India has also been informed of Bangladesh's interest in joining the 'Tripartite Highway' project between India, Myanmar and Thailand.

At the same time, Momen noted that India has been informed of Bangladesh's interest in building rail connectivity with Bhutan using the recently inaugurated Chilahati-Haldibari rail route.

During the meeting, the two countries signed five memorandums of understanding to enhance cooperation in various fields including disaster management, trade, information technology and sports.

The two Prime Ministers also inaugurated the Shilaidaha Kuthibari renovation project expansion project and three border haats.

He said that although the visit was a bit of a celebration, it was a very meaningful and wide-ranging discussion between the two sides on the multidimensional and wide range of bilateral relations. As a result, we firmly believe that existing bilateral cooperation will be further accelerated and strengthened.

Momen said the meeting discussed measures to facilitate trade with the aim of bringing bilateral trade balance with India in favor of Bangladesh and making trade free. Both sides stressed the importance of removing tariffs and non-tariff barriers. A request has been made to withdraw the 'anti-dumping duty' imposed by India on the export of jute products from Bangladesh since 2016.

The two countries have decided to observe December 6, the day of India's diplomatic recognition of independent Bangladesh, as 'Friendship Day'.

Foreign Minister Momen told a news conference that the two sides were discussing a "framework" for jointly celebrating the day.

The Foreign Minister also said that various plans to jointly celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations have been included in the bilateral meeting.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Modi has invited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India in 2022.