Bangladesh will seek reassurance from India that its territory will not be used against Bangladesh during the third Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting to be held in New Delhi on Saturday.
“Surely, India will also have to give us this assurance. We’ll surely seek it. Let me go there and discuss. I’ll tell you more once I get back home,” Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said.
Before leaving for New Delhi this morning, the foreign minister was addressing a pre-departure press conference at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka this morning.
Bangladesh also expects that India would not allow their soil against Bangladesh as the country cleared its position regarding the matter, the minister said.
The Bangladesh delegation will be visiting in New Delhi till September 21.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who invited Ali to attend the meeting, will lead the Indian side.
This will be Ali’s maiden visit to India since becoming the foreign minister and he will also pay courtesy calls on the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and meet other Indian dignitaries during the visit.
Both Dhaka and New Delhi consider the meeting as significant, as a wide range of issues like trade, connectivity, power, water resources, security, border management, introduction of coastal shipping, infrastructure, people to people contacts, culture, environment and education will be discussed.
The killing of Bangladeshi citizens along the border will also be high on the agenda at the meeting between the two foreign ministers, said foreign ministry officials.
Source: The Daily Star