The 11th round of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue began on Thursday in Sylhet.
Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury MP, Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament graced the occasion as chief guest. Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen chaired the inaugural session where Indian Parliament Members Vincent Pala and Swapan Dasgupta and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma, among others, also spoke.
The two-day long dialogue is expected to hold few thematic sessions where a number of speakers from both Bangladesh and India are expected to deliver their valuable remarks.
For last 10 years the Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue has been serving as one of the instrumental platforms for fostering strong bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India. This year the theme of the Dialogue is “Fostering a comprehensive and mutually beneficial partnership”.
At the chief guest, Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury on Thursday said that the destinies of the two neighboring countries—Bangladesh and India-- are intertwined, and stability and prosperity of both the countries are inextricably linked with each other.
She thanked India for including Bangladesh in the G20 process and appreciated India for arranging P20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit and emphasized on ensuring more engagement of the parliaments of the two countries, collaboration and engagement of women lawmakers and cooperation in ICT sector to face the challenges of the 4th Industrial revolution.
In the inaugural session, Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen highlighted the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries.
He shed light on the recent economic development of Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of Minister Sheikh Hasina which has largely fulfilled the dream of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to transform Bangladesh into ‘Sonar Bangla’.
The Foreign Minister said a fast-developing Bangladesh offers both the countries with opportunities to further deepen its economic benefits.
In his statement Abdul Momen emphasized to focus on five key areas like exploring ways to enhance bilateral trade, improved connectivity, sub-regional cooperation in energy sector, cooperation in water sector and people-to-people contact to further strengthening the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India.
He also said that partnering of these two neighbors is important for bringing shared peace and prosperity in the South Asian region.
Today (Friday) the dialogue will have thematic sessions on issues on Connectivity for Trade and People-to-People Connections, Technology Collaboration and Innovation, Investment for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.
Foreign Minister Dr. A K Abdul Momen will also inaugurate the 2nd round of Sylhet-Silchar Festival which is scheduled to be held from 06 to 08 October 2023. The festival aims to promote cultural and people-to-people contact linking the two cities: Sylhet and Silchar.
