I’ll work to strengthen partnership
Indian High Commissioner-designate to Bangladesh, Vikram Doraiswami, arrived in Dhaka through Tripura yesterday, three days after the former Indian envoy Riva Ganguly Das left for Delhi.
He came to Tripura from Delhi last Saturday and held meetings with Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Governor Ramesh Bais, business leaders and visited a number of projects connecting Bangladesh and India, attaching importance of the development of India's northeast and its link to Bangladesh.
Doraiswami entered Bangladesh through Akhaura Immigration Check Post around 10:00am.
Officials of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka welcomed him in Akhaura, reports our Brahmanbaria correspondent.
"Bangladesh and India are friendly countries. I will work to strengthen partnership between the two friends. I am happy to have the scope of working here," he told reporters at the zero point of Bangladesh-India border.
The new envoy reached Dhaka by road from Brahmanbaria shortly after noon, an official of the Indian High Commission told this correspondent. He is likely to present his credentials to President Abdul Hamid on October 8.
His arrival in Dhaka takes place at a time when regional geopolitical scenario is changing, with India-China rivalry intensifying following Indian Army's bitter border standoff with the Chinese military in eastern Ladakh where at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in June.
It is also the time when Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane handed over 3,000 vials of Remdesivir to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi as part of India's contribution to help Myanmar in its fight against Covid-19.
Myanmar is a close ally of both China and India. Both the Asian giants have major investments in Myanmar. However, Bangladesh faces a serious burden of sheltering some one million Rohingyas, most of them fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state in 2017.
Bangladesh has been seeking India's cooperation in terms of Rohingya repatriation, which could not begin despite two attempts as Rohingyas refuse to return saying there is no guarantee of safety, citizenship and movement in Rakhine state of Myanmar.
During the visit, officials from India and Myanmar noted the "considerable progress" made under the Rakhine State Development Programme and proposed finalising projects under Phase-III of the Programme, including setting up of a skills training centre.
During the visit, Shringla conveyed India's support for ensuring safe, sustainable and speedy return of displaced persons (Rohingya) to Rakhine state.
News agency PTI reported that Shringla and MM Naravane went to Naypyidaw on Sunday on a two-day visit with an aim to further expand ties in a range of areas, including connectivity, defence and security.
Myanmar is one of the India's strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states, including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.
The visit came four days after the two countries held foreign office consultations virtually where Shringla said India and Myanmar are working towards operationalising the Sittwe Port by the first quarter of next year and that the tendering process for 69 bridges proposed under the ambitious India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway will begin soon.
Sittwe Port is part of the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project which is being viewed as India's gateway to Southeast Asia. The port will connect India's landlocked northeastern region with the Bay of Bengal through Mizoram.
Shringla deeply appreciated Myanmar for its handing over of 22 Indian insurgents, which sends a strong message of "deterrence to inimical elements on both sides".
India and Myanmar have significantly ramped up defence and security cooperation in the last few years, including in the maritime security sphere.
India has been assisting Myanmar in developing border areas under an agreement inked in 2012 that provided for granting USD 5 million each year over a period of five years. This MoU has already been extended till 2022.
India's development cooperation in Myanmar is estimated at USD 1.4 billion. The two countries are also expanding partnership in the area of energy cooperation. Recently, India approved an investment of over USD 120 million in the Shwe Oil and Gas project.
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