The summit between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi witnessed the signing of seven MoUs and agreements between the two countries on Thursday.
Both the leaders also unveiled a digital exhibition on the life of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and India’s founding father Mahatma Gandhi.
They also restored Chilahati – Haldibari rail route re-linking Bangladesh with West Bengal of India. India also released a postal stamp on Bangabandhu, marking his birth centenary.
The deals signed include: Framework of Understanding on Cooperation in the Hydrocarbon Sector, MoU regarding Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects through Local Bodies and other Public Sector Institutions, Protocol on Transboundary Elephant Conservation, MoU for Supply of Equipment & Improvement of Garbage/Solid Waste Disposal Ground at Lamchori Area for Barishal City Corporation, MoU on Cooperation in the field of Agriculture, MoU between Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum, Dhaka, and the National Museum, New Delhi, and Terms of Reference of India-Bangladesh CEO’s Forum.
Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Vikram Doraiswami signed those documents on behalf of New Delhi while officials of relevant ministries and departments represented the Bangladesh side.
The Chilahati – Haldibari rail route is the fifth of the six cross-border rail routes to be restored after 1965 when the then Pakistan government disconnected those links with India.
Petrapole (India) – Benapole (Bangladesh); Gede (India) – Darshana (Bangladesh); Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh); and Radhikapur (India)–Birol (Bangladesh) rail links have already been revived. The Karimganj – Mahisashan rail link is expected to be operational by 2022.
The deal on high impact projects is a ten-year agreement allowing projects worth Tk 500 million. It is double the amount of what was previously promised.
Projects in the field of education, health and sanitation, water-treatment, and cultural heritage are prioritised under those projects with an aim to improve socio-economic conditions of local communities.
Both the neighbours agreed to promote two-way investment, technology transfer, joint studies and capacity building in hydrocarbons.
The India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline is currently being built to supply high-speed diesel from Shiliguri in India to Parbatipur in Bangladesh.
India and Bangladesh also agreed to set up a high level CEO forum between the top CEOs of both the countries to provide policy level inputs for enhancing bilateral trade and investment as well as export to third countries. Textiles, pharmaceuticals, leather, agriculture and food processing value chains, automobiles, and service sectors will be the major focus areas.
A digital exhibition on the life of the Bangabandhu and Mahatma Gandhi was also commissioned during the virtual summit.
The travelling exhibition will be jointly showcased in India, Bangladesh and in various countries including the UN.
Narendra Modi in his introductory speech said the exhibition also includes a section on Bangomata and Kasturba.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated India’s commitment to complete the Interim Water Sharing arrangement for the Teesta river.
The two leaders underscored the need for early conclusion of Frameworks for Interim Agreement on sharing the waters of six other joint rivers, namely, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar.
In this regard, the two leaders agreed to schedule the Joint River Commission meetings at the earliest.
