Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had a bilateral meeting with H.E. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of People’s Republic of Bangladesh. PM Hasina is visiting India as its guest country to participate in the G-20 Leaders Summit on 9-10 September 2023.
The two leaders discussed the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation including political and security cooperation, border management, trade and connectivity, water resources, power and energy, development cooperation, cultural and people to people ties. Current developments in the region and cooperation in the multilateral fora were also discussed.
The leaders welcomed the operationalization of the Agreement on the use of the Chattogram and Mongla Ports and commissioning of the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline. They also expressed appreciation for operationalization of settlement of bilateral trade in INR and encouraged the business community on both sides to utilize the mechanism.
They looked forward to beginning of negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), covering trade in goods, services, and protecting and promoting investment.
Expressing satisfaction at the implementation of development cooperation projects, they looked forward to the joint inauguration of following projects at a convenient date later:
i. Agartala-Akhaura Rail Link
ii. Unit-II of the Maitri Power Plant
iii. Khulna-Mongla Rail Link
They welcomed the exchange of following MoUs for strengthening bilateral cooperation:
i. Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Digital Payment mechanisms between National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Bangladesh Bank.
ii. Memorandum of Understanding on renewal of the Cultural Exchange Program (CEP) between India and Bangladesh for 2023-2025.
iii. Memorandum of Understanding between Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC).
With regard to the regional situation, Prime Minister Modi expressed appreciation of the burden shouldered by Bangladesh in hosting over a million persons displaced from Rakhine State in Myanmar, and conveyed India’s constructive and positive approach to support solutions towards safe and sustainable repatriation of the refugees.
Indian side welcomed the Indo-Pacific outlook announced by Bangladesh recently. The leaders agreed to continue working together to intensify their wide-ranging engagement.
Prime Minster Hasina thanked Prime Minister Modi for the hospitality of the Government and people of India, as the two Leaders looked forward to continuing interactions at all levels.