Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held talks on diversifying bilateral cooperation and discussed issues such as connectivity and commercial linkages.
Bangladesh and India also signed three separate memorandums of understanding (MoUs) after the meeting between Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
The MoUs were signed on the cooperation on ‘Agricultural Research and Education’ between Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and Extension of Cultural Exchange Programme from 2023 to 2025.
The other MoU is between Bangladesh Bank and the National Payments Corporation of India for network connectivity to facilitate transactions in rupee and taka between the two countries.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said this while briefing reporters.
Dr Momen said apart from the signing of the MoUs, different bilateral issues were also discussed.
“The MoUs were signed and discussions were held for the betterment of the people of both the countries”, said Momen.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described his meeting with Bangladesh PM as productive deliberations.
“Had productive deliberations with PM Sheikh Hasina. The progress in India-Bangladesh relations in the last 9 years has been very gladdening. Our talks covered areas like connectivity, commercial linkage and more,” he tweeted, uploading the images of the meeting.
Besides, in another post on X, the Indian Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said, "PM Narendra Modi had productive talks with PM Sheikh Hasina on diversifying the India-Bangladesh bilateral cooperation. They agreed to strengthen ties in a host of sectors including connectivity, culture as well as people-to-people ties."
Modi held the meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
News agency UNB adds: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid emphasis on resolving the outstanding issues between India and Bangladesh through talks at the official level.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said this during a media briefing about the outcome of the bilateral meeting between Modi and visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“The Prime Minister of India expressed his deep gratitude to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her contribution in ensuring the existing peaceful situation in the North Eastern region of his country,” Momen said.
The bilateral meeting took place at the official residence of the Indian prime minister in New Delhi.
Momen said that both the prime ministers expressed satisfaction over the existing deep relationship between Bangladesh and India.
“And they agreed to take effective steps to further this relationship,” he said.
Hasina noted that after his successful state visit to New Delhi on 04-08 September last year, a lot of visible progress has been achieved in various areas of bilateral interest.
“Both the prime ministers expressed satisfaction for this,” the foreign minister said.
In the meeting, the Sheikh Hasina informed the Indian prime minister about the success achieved by Bangladesh in various socio-economic fields.
“The Prime Minister of India appreciated the strong leadership of the Prime Minister for the tremendous progress of Bangladesh,” Momen added.
The G20 leaders are expected to deliberate on pressing global issues of the groupings annual summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. India is hosting the summit in its capacity as the current G20 chair.
In its G20 presidency, India has been focusing on various issues such as inclusive growth, digital innovation, climate resilience and equitable global health access.
The G20 member countries represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade and about two-thirds of the world population.
The grouping comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union.
