India and Bangladesh are expected to sign at least six cooperation agreements in areas ranging from river water sharing to connectivity after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday. Ahead of the meeting, Hasina was given a tri-service guard of honor at the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt on Tuesday morning. Modi welcomed her on her arrival at the Presidential Palace and introduced several ministers, including JP Nadda, Kiren Rijiju and S Jaishankar.
In brief remarks to the media after the ceremony, Hasina said it was possible for friendly countries like India and Bangladesh to deal with all the issues. “You can solve any problem with friendship, so we always do that,” she said. She described India as “our dear friend” and recalled the country’s support during the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh from the erstwhile East Pakistan. Speaking in a mixture of Bengali, Hindi and English, she said Bangladesh was indebted to India for its support during the liberation war.
Among the agreements expected to be signed on Tuesday is one to share the waters of the Kushiyara River, which was finalized last month at a meeting of the bilateral Joint Rivers Commission. Cooperation agreements on railways and energy are also expected to be signed, people familiar with the matter said.
During a meeting with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Monday, Hasina raised the issue of instability in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and concerns that it could spread further, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Masud bin Momen told reporters. Momen quoted Jaishankar as saying that India too is closely monitoring the unrest, which is not good for the region.
In a brief interaction with reporters during a diplomatic reception at the Bangladesh High Commission on Monday, Hasina said a big country like India could “do a lot” to help find a solution to the Rohingya refugee problem in Rakhine. Momen also said Hasina raised several outstanding issues that should be prioritized, such as Nepal’s plans to transport goods to Bangladeshi ports through Indian territory and a proposal for greater connectivity through the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) grouping. Hasina and Jaishankar also discussed the global impact of the Ukraine crisis and ways to work together to overcome the impact of the conflict, Momen said. He added that Bangladesh could look at buying fuel and gas from India if the country has any excess reserves, on “mutually agreed terms”.
