Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is coming to Dhaka on a one-day visit to Bangladesh on Thursday, may carry good news and give a surprise, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said today.
“Maybe he (Jaishankar) will bring good news. We don’t know, however, exactly what that is… he will give a special message. Indian media said he will invite our prime minister,” he told reporters at the foreign ministry.
Jaishankar will travel to Dhaka and will carry the formal invitation letter of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reported Indian media quoting Indian Foreign Secretary Harsha Vardhan Shringla on Monday.
India’s newly-appointed foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra will also join Jaishankar in the visit.
“This is good news. Relations between India and Bangladesh are very sweet. I am very happy that the Indian foreign minister is coming. I welcome him,” Momen said.
Jaishankar will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and then hold a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Abdul Momen.
The prime minister will decide if and when she will visit India, he said adding, “We never say no [to an invitation].”
They will discuss and finalise the dates of Prime Minister Hasina’s visit to India and the meetings of Joint Consultative Commission and Joint River Commission. These meetings will be held after secretary-level meetings, he added.
“We will discuss our outstanding issues,” he said when asked what will be discussed during the meeting between him and Jaishankar.
Other issues that may be discussed entail the long-pending Teesta water agreement, border killing, trade and commerce. India imposes anti-dumping duty on Bangladesh’s jute, an issue that Dhaka will raise, he said.
“It is good news that Bangladesh’s trade with India increased last year. It was over $1 billion and is likely to go up in the days ahead,” Momen said.
“We want to increase border haats with India to facilitate more trade,” he added.
He said he will propose that the Swadhinata Sarak from Mujibnagar to Nadia is made operational.
