Indian High Commissioner Veena Sikri called on Prime Minister Khaleda Zia at her office yesterday and delivered Manmohan Singh's letter, also offering cooperation in mutually beneficial fields.

The envoy said the Indian prime minister is looking forward to attend the 13th Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit to be held in Dhaka in January 2005.

During the meeting, cooperation between the two neighbouring countries on bilateral and regional issues, and cooperation in the fields of culture, water resources and trade were discussed.

They expressed satisfaction with the recently held meetings at home secretary, water secretary and BDR-BSF levels between the two countries, discussing ways of resolving various outstanding issues.

The Indian high commissioner stressed the need for strengthening interaction between the two countries also under the umbrella of regional forums like Saarc and BIMST-EC.

Khaleda thanked her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh for their "friendly gesture".

She emphasised increased people-to-people contact through the exchange of more cultural teams between the two next-door neighbours.

The prime minister also stressed the need for reducing the trade gap between the two countries by allowing the access of more Bangladeshi products to Indian market.

In the letter, Manmohan Singh conveyed his greeting to Khaleda Zia. And she reciprocated by conveying through the high commissioner her best wishes and greetings to Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.