Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday laid emphasis on speedy implementation of decisions taken by Bangladesh and India to strengthen bilateral relations.
Bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh have grown and expanded in recent years and there is a need for speedy implementation of decisions, he said when Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, now in New Delhi, met him at Rashtrapati Bhavan, according to an Indian official release.
The two countries have made concrete progress in almost all areas, and there is a necessity now to work on increasing connectivity, said Mukherjee.
The foreign minister was accompanied by Secretaries of different ministries who are in Delhi to attend the third meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) to be held on Saturday.
Speaking on the occasion, the president welcomed the Bangladesh Foreign Minister who was visiting India for the first time since assuming office and said the Joint Consultative Commission was a good mechanism.
Mahmood Ali said Bangladesh is moving forward on all fronts and the Sheikh Hasina government stands poised to lead the country into the modern age.
He said the sky is the limit for cooperation with India and both sides together need to jointly give a big push. “The large delegation accompanying him shows the commitment of the Bangladesh government to improving relations.”
Earlier, the Foreign Minister met Indian Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati at Shram Shakti Bhavan and discussed various issues, including the long-pending Teesta water sharing deal.
After the meeting, Mahmood Ali told reporters that both Bangladesh and India expressed the hope of an early signing of the deal.
He also described his meeting with Uma Bharati as fruitful and positive in which they also discussed issues relating to resources of common rivers and river basin management.
The foreign minister also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed various bilateral issues.
He was scheduled to meet Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday.
Mahmood Ali will have a one-to-one meeting with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj at Jawahar Bhavan at 10:35am on Saturday before the two sides sit for the third Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting at the same venue.
The JCC meeting, in which Bangladesh will push for early settlement of all pending issues including Land Boundary Agreement and Teesta Water sharing deal, will begin at 11:5am on Saturday.
Secretaries representing various ministries, including of Commerce, Home, Water Resources, Energy and Power, are likely to have separate meetings with their Indian counterparts for providing inputs to the JCC meeting.
After the JCC meeting, Swaraj will host lunch for her Bangladesh counterpart and delegation members.
Mahmood Ali is likely to meet Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, the upper House of Indian parliament on Saturday.
Earlier, a high-powered delegation, led by the Foreign Minister, reached New Delhi on Thursday.
The foreign minister will leave for New York from New Delhi to attend the 69th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Source: Prothom Alo
