Dhaka-Delhi JCC meet tomorrow
Dhaka will seek reassurance from New Delhi that Indian territory will not be allowed to be used for any criminal activities against Bangladesh.
"India must give us this assurance and we will certainly seek it," said Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali prior to leaving Dhaka to attend the third Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting to be held in New Delhi tomorrow.
Ali said Bangladesh also expects that India would not allow its soil to be used for terrorist activities against Bangladesh as Bangladesh cleared its position regarding the matter. "I think it's there. I'll tell more once I get back home," he told a pre-departure press conference at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday morning.
Asked whether he will raise the issue of transfer of funds for terrorist outfits, the foreign minister said "This is an internal matter of India and let them handle it," adding that "Bangladesh government will do whatever is necessary."
The foreign minister is leading a 26-member delegation, including seven secretaries of different ministries and high officials of National Board of Revenue, Railways and other departments. These officials will also hold separate meetings with their Indian counterparts.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will lead the Indian side to the meeting to be held at the Hyderabad House.
"Never before has such a big delegation of secretaries travelled with a Bangladesh foreign minister to any country since independence and it clearly indicates the importance given to bilateral relations by both India and Bangladesh," a senior official at the foreign ministry told The Daily Star.
Diplomatic sources said the JCC meeting will identify thrust areas of bilateral cooperation and give directions for further growth of India-Bangladesh relationship, apart from reviewing the progress of the ties in various sectors.
Asked whether Bangladesh will seek "specific time frame" from India to resolve the pending Teesta water sharing deal and ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), the foreign minister said "These are a continuous process and it's not possible to give any specific time frame."
He, however, said a wide range of issues like security, border management, power and energy, trade development, connectivity, water resources, people to people contact and cultural exchange and cooperation in science and technology will come up for discussion at the meeting.
The Bangladesh side will also focus on balanced sharing of common rivers, arranging next Joint Rivers Commission meeting, removal of barriers to boost exports and enhancing regional and sub-regional cooperation under the Bimstec, Saarc and BCIM-EC.
He said Dhaka would handover the list of the items facing obstacle to enter the Indian market due to certification related problems.
"I hope the JCC meeting will be very fruitful and greatly help improve the ties," Ali added.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed with India to build ties between Bangladesh and Nalanda University of India.
Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, Director General (South Asia) Tareq Md Ariful Islam and Director General (External Publicity) Noor-E Helal Saifur Rahman were present at the press briefing.
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