Dhaka and New Delhi both agreed to have “good working relations” by removing the remaining problems, said Foreign Affairs Adviser of Bangladesh Touhid Hossain on Thursday.
“We—both sides—agreed that we need to reach a good working relationship,” Hossain told reporters in Dhaka, referring to his recent meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar in Muscat, Oman, on the sidelines of the 8th Indian Ocean Conference (IOC).
Hossain said he invited Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Bangladesh, mentioning that there is a mechanism at the foreign minister level and the previous such meeting was held in New Delhi during the previous regime. He said Bangladesh will make arrangements for Jaishankar’s visit once a convenient date is found, reports United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
He said businesses have already picked up and are apparently reaching previous levels, but there are still some issues, like visa-related problems.
Responding to a question, the adviser said they did not specify any challenges but acknowledged that there are some challenges that need to be removed to take forward the relations.
Asked about deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s extradition, Hossain said there was no specific discussion on this, but they discussed issues in general. He said that it is an independent issue, and Bangladesh requested her extradition following the court order, reports UNB.
Meanwhile, both sides at the level of Directors General of BGB and BSF held a meeting in New Delhi on February 18-20. Various border-related issues were discussed and resolved during the meeting, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Conversations focused on our bilateral relationship, as also on Bimstec,” Jaishankar said after the meeting in Muscat. Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to attend the Bimstec Summit to be held in Bangkok on April 4, reports UNB.
At the meeting, they recognised the challenges the two neighbours are facing in terms of bilateral relations and discussed the necessity to work together to address those.
The two sides discussed various bilateral issues of mutual concern and interest.
